


An Imperfect Vessel

by NeverEvers



Category: Original Work
Genre: AIV, An Imperfect Vessel, NeverEvers, Thalia - Freeform, Xieol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-20 07:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22945321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverEvers/pseuds/NeverEvers
Summary: For a century, an alien race has held humanity captive deep in space. Science has allowed them to manipulate human genetics to create “Vessels”, human females that are genetically compatible with their alien overlords. When a perfect genetic match is found in eighteen-year-old Thalia, the overlords believe they have finally succeeded in avoiding extinction. Despite her perfect chemistry and the years of science that led to her creation, Thalia possesses a single flaw that may destroy them all: a human spirit.





	1. Questions

Thalia was woken by the sudden blaring of a horn, followed swiftly by the flashing of a red light. Alarmed, she flew from her bed but stumbled half-way to the door of her compartment as the room seemed to shift violently to the left. Groggy and disoriented, she regained her footing just as the emergency lights blinked on overhead and a robotic voice began to sound throughout the room.  
“Remain calm, make your way to the sanctuary. Please remain calm, make your way to the sanctuary—“  
Her door opened on its own, and she saw that the hallway was already filling with the other girls. Some seemed still half-asleep, clutching their robes about them in confusion. Most seemed intent on panicking.  
“Make your way to the sanctuary—“  
“The ship is failing!” A shrill, human voice drowned out the robotic one.  
“We are all to die!” Someone else added.  
“Please remain calm, make your way—”  
“Come on, then!” Thalia yelled into the mass of nightgowns and robes. She elbowed her way out into the hall and was relieved to find that the mass of humanity was actually moving in the correct direction. The more hysterical girls were being pulled to their feet and ushered along by their cooler headed friends.  
While there were still agonized declarations of impending doom, the floor did cease rocking and the alarms suddenly shut off. The normal overhead lighting blinked back to life and the emergency lights extinguished.  
“Make your way to the sanctuary,” The robotic voice repeated above them, but it seemed less threatening in the calm white light now filling the hall.  
In a matter of moments, Thalia and the other girls found the stairs leading down into the heart of the ship. It took nearly ten minutes for the swirling mass of humanity to travel down the spiral staircase. As soon as the last trembling girl, her face nearly white as a sheet, left the bottom step, the voice instructed them to stand back. The door at the top of the stairs slammed shut, and a lock clicked loudly into place. A second door slid from the wall and sealed off the stairs completely.  
Everyone seemed to take a deep breath at the same time. The sanctuary was the safest place they knew of. With the doors closed it was a seamless circular room, airtight with thick walls to protect them. There were padded benches in rows throughout the middle of the large room, each with various straps that could be secured in case of extreme turbulence.  
Many girls had collapsed onto the benches, the sudden fright sapping the energy from them. Only one girl had the presence of mind to secure herself with the straps.  
Thalia remained standing near the wall, twitchy with anxiety. While it was all well and good to be secured away, to be safe, she wanted to know what was happening. Aside from a few violent shakes, what was there to hide from? Certainly they had experienced worse turbulence than this before. Why the need to frighten everyone with the alarm?  
Certainly a few jolts of turbulence would have woken Thalia, but she normally would not have given it a second thought. Was the danger still imminent?  
Everyone else seemed to be calming down. A few even let out nervous laughter and began to mock each other over the faces they had made in their fright. What a good laugh, some said, to be so scared for no reason. Others bemoaned tears in their nightclothes, and scrapes on their arms attained during their hurry to safety.  
In all fifty of them, it seemed Thalia was the only girl still on edge. They had never been needlessly alarmed in such a way before. The metallic gearmen had yet to appear to console them. Surely they would have come to apologize for the false alarm by now?  
Unless, Thalia mused as she eyed the solid white walls, the crew was still engaged in maintaining their safety.  
“Didn’t the gearmen hear the alarms?” One of the girls had broken from the group and come to stand with Thalia. “Or did they do this as some kind of joke, do you think?”  
Thalia snorted and relaxed slightly. “A gearman with a sense of humor?” she returned, looking up at her friend.  
Amanda was a good six inches taller than Thalia’s five feet and two inches. Both girls had white, nearly translucently pale skin, like the rest of the girls. They had all been raised inside this ship, and kept from windows less the harsh rays of a sun tarnish their complexion. Aside from their skin, Amanda and Thalia looked nothing alike. Amanda was tall and willowy. Her hair was the color of gold.  
Thalia was nearly the shortest girl on the ship, despite being among the eldest. She was shapely as well, with a trim waist and softly flaring hips. Although they all ate the same food in the same quantities, she had become fleshy in areas that her slim friend had not. It was not something that bothered her, however. Each girl in the group was unique in some way. It was the only way that Thalia could be certain that they were not all the same person.  
The crew of the ship—the gearmen, as the girls called them—provided the girls with everything necessary for life, if not for comfort. Their belongings were minimal. Each owned a few white nightgowns, a white robe, some identical white dresses in their size and dainty white slippers for walking the ship’s halls. In such a sterile, boring environment, they had quickly begun to celebrate differences they saw in each other. Amanda’s height, Rhonda’s fabulously blue eyes, and the shocking orange color of Zia’s hair were all fawned over in turn.  
Compared to them, Thalia found her coloring quite boring. Her hair was pitch-black, the color of night in a windowless place, and it only seemed to make her white skin stand out in stark contrast. Although her eyes were blue, they were not brilliantly so like Rhonda’s. Thalia’s eyes were a cool, pale blue, and did not elicit much excitement among the other girls.  
Without warning, the wall leading to the stairs slid open, and the robotic voice politely asked them to return to their beds. No reason for the event was given.  
“Must’ve been a false alarm,” Amanda shrugged and, with a yawn, headed back up the stairs with the rest of the girls.  
Thalia remained behind. She was annoyed at being woken for no reason. The palms of her hands still prickled with tension. While her adrenaline had waned, it was not gone entirely. She wanted answers.  
So she waited.  
Not long after the room had emptied, a gearman stepped into the room. He was exactly six feet tall, as all the gearmen were, with golden mechanisms whirring about inside of him. In the place of skin, he had a hard, translucent casing that reflected light. A golden, robotic skeleton incased in a glasslike container. There could be no confusing him with a living being.  
“Return to your room please, miss.” He said, his robotic voice almost chipper. If it weren’t for the quiet beeps and whirring noises issuing from his body, she could almost have thought he sounded human.  
“What happened?” She returned, planting her feet. “Why did we all have to come down here?”  
“You will know what you are meant to know.” He returned, pleasant as ever. “I will escort you.” With that his cold fingers wrapped around her upper arm. While not painful, his grip was firm.  
Thalia shivered, and allowed him to tow her towards the stairs. She hated when they touched her.  
“Where are we?” She tried. All the gearmen looked exactly alike and spoke identically. Each also answered her questions in exactly the same way. She had been asking the same questions for years, but never gave up hope of receiving a different answer. Or maybe, just hearing it one more time would help her understand.  
“We are aboard Human Quarantine Ship X33465, docked indefinitely in deep space.” No new information there.  
“How did I get here?” She asked, as they emerged at the top of the stairs and the gearman tugged her toward her room.  
“You were brought here by shuttle.” He returned easily.  
Glints of light caught her eye, and she turned her head just in time to see a Gearman returning another girl to her room. Unlike Thalia, this girl was crying and fighting. She was young, Thalia thought, maybe only ten years old.  
Thalia had never seen her before.  
In the chaos of the emergency, a new girl had appeared. Did that mean another had gone? That was how it had always worked in the past, but she had not seen anyone taken from the sanctuary. Surely the group would have noticed if one of their own simply vanished from their midst?  
“Where do you take the girls?” Thalia asked quickly. The door to her room was looming nearer, and she felt even more desperate for answers than she usually was. “Why do you bring them here and then take them away?”  
The door to her room automatically snapped inward when they stood before it, and the gearman gave her a gentle push across the threshold.  
“You know what you are meant to know. Now, please sleep, miss.”  
“No!” She grabbed his arm when he released her. “Where did we come from? Where are you sending us? Please!”  
“You are hysterical.” He informed her in his pleasant voice, and she realized that she was.  
Her chest was locked in a ball of anxiety, she felt her breath beginning to come in gasps. Stress and fear were slowly strangling her. The urge to scream began to build, and her eyes started to water with the strain of keeping it inside. And then the floor was gone from beneath her, and the Gearman’s cold arms were around her. His touch made her nauseous.  
“Now, you will sleep, miss,” He said as he laid her down on her bed. She knew what was coming, but she still didn’t react fast enough to stop him. A needle slid from the tip of his finger directly into her skin. She barely registered the sting of it before sleep claimed her.


	2. Well, That's New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, That's New

Thalia drifted up toward consciousness slowly. It had been a deep, dreamless sleep. The same as it always was when they drugged her. The first thing she felt was a dull anger, both at herself for losing control of her emotions and at the gearmen for being…well, like they always were.   
The bright white of the room hurt her eyes, her head felt like it was full of cotton. It must be late in the morning if the lights were already so bright. Clearly it was past the time she should be up, on the way to breakfast. She could hear the footsteps of the other girls passing by her door. Somewhere in the distance, someone laughed. She knew she was risking another encounter with the crew by staying in bed so long, but she couldn’t bring herself to care too much. He must have given her something to quell her frazzled nerves, along with the drug to make her sleep.  
She pressed her eyes closed and tried to focus on what she knew, instead of worrying about all the things she didn’t. Although the gearmen were largely unhelpful, at least they were always honest. Well, as far as she knew.  
She had been brought to Human Quarantine Ship X33465 by a shuttle when she was nine years old. There were fifty human girls housed here at all times. If a new girl appeared, an older girl disappeared. Every new girl was disoriented and afraid. None of them knew where they had come from. Their memories had been wiped clean. The gearmen answered most of their early questions by producing instructional discs. While factual, these discs were not overly helpful in quelling the girls’ emotions.   
The discs instructed the girls on what they were—human. Basic human needs were outlined and explained. They were assured that all of their needs would be met and all that was asked of them was patience and obedience until they were relocated.   
That was all they knew.   
The door to Thalia’s room opened with its characteristic snap and she glared up at the ceiling.  
“It is important that you eat.” The familiar voice chirped. After a moment of silence, and no movement from Thalia, the gearman added: “Do you require assistance?”  
That was as close to a threat as the gearmen came. Thalia nearly flung herself from the bed, and became instantly dizzy. When a clear, whirring hand reached out to steady her, she stumbled back into the wall to avoid contact with it.  
“No,” She answered, glaring at him angrily as she righted herself. “I don’t need you to force feed me, or drag me to the dining room. I just need you to get out of my way!”  
“You must eat.” He responded, but backed out of the room to give her some space. “I will wait while you change. Unless you require assistance?”  
She slammed the door in his face, but quickly went about dressing. The gearmen were not known for their patience and the thought of his cold hands dressing her made her shudder. Her nightgown was abandoned on the floor and she pulled a clean dress over her head. It was white, like everything else, with a lacey hem poofing out around her knees. A human dressing disc had explained it was called an A-line, and had been picked as it was sure to flatter all human body types.   
Thalia hated it.  
The gearman was waiting when she exited the room but thankfully remained silent as he followed her to the center room of the ship. The cafeteria was still very busy, but most girls had already finished eating and were engaged in the morning gossip. Feeling the gearman at her back, Thalia sat at a small white table without comment. He quickly retreated and was replaced by an identical crew member who sat a dish on the table before her and bid her eat.   
She picked up her spoon and the gearman left.  
Thalia ate the mush without really noticing it. It hadn’t gotten any better tasting, she had just gotten better at ignoring it. The mush was perfectly nutritional, a balance of every little thing her body needed to be healthy. To expect something that tasted good, or had any personality to it, was ridiculous.   
Most of the girls were crowded around the new girl, attempting to comfort her. From what Thalia overheard, she had been convinced to stay in bed without being drugged. This morning, however, she had been unable to stomach the foul taste of the mush. The gearmen had assisted by force feeding her.  
“It’s important that you eat,” One of the other girls, Brittany, said while petting the new arrival’s hair in a comforting way, “You have to keep up your strength.”  
Thalia laughed suddenly, and choked on her mush. A gearman appeared with a glass of water but she waved him away and swallowed again. Every eye had turned to her.  
“You have to be kidding me,” She said, when she could speak, “You sound like one of the clock-work boys.” She nodded her head toward the gearmen. “The only reason you should eat is because if you don’t, they’ll make you. Just like everything else.”  
The new girl began to cry again, and the grouped tightened around her. While everyone else shushed, and cooed, Brittany stood and faced Thalia.  
“There’s no point in scaring her!” She said. Her hands were clenched into fists. “She needs to learn to take care of herself, so that they will leave her alone.”   
“And,” a small voice came from the middle of the girls, “If I stay strong…maybe I can escape?”  
The group slowly leaned back from her, their expressions grave. Some glanced at one another, at a loss, others looked like they might cry themselves.   
“Oh, Sweetheart…” Brittany began, turning toward the nine year-old, and then stopped when her eyes fell on the small, tear-stained face. Even she was at a loss.  
The small girl seemed to understand, and lowered her eyes. Everyone was silent again. Thalia swore she could hear the whirring of the gearmen, watching them. She started talking, if only to drown out that sound.  
“So, who was it this time?” She glanced around the room. A couple of girls were missing, but they could have just returned to their rooms after breakfast. They had all been clustered together last night, after all, so maybe no one had even been taken.  
“Amanda,” Brittany said quietly, and lowered her gaze when Thalia’s eyes locked onto her.   
Grief welled up inside her. Her closest friend. The one who had comforted her when she first woke in this terrible place—gone. Just gone, with no explanation. No one even thought to ask the gearmen, as they knew the answer would be that she had been “relocated”. Whatever that meant.  
For once, Thalia dared to hope that relocation was a good thing. She couldn’t seem to convince herself, though.   
Everyone turned back to the new girl, who revealed that her name was Emily. There was much fawning over her soft brown eyes and the slight curl to her hair. When she asked about Amanda, the group quickly guided her back into safer territory. Amanda was a wonderful person, they said, but Emily was not going to meet her. She was gone.   
Brittany took the seat beside Thalia and the two sat together in silence for a moment. It was the first time Thalia had ever been grateful for the other girl’s company.  
“You seem…calm?” Brittany asked, breaking the peace. Thalia sighed.  
“I panicked last night, they gave me something,” She said. “So, it’s one of us next, right?”  
“What?” Brittany actually seemed surprised by the question.  
“Amanda was a year older than us.” It was still hard to say her name, knowing she would never see her again, “We’re both eighteen. They could take us any day now.”  
“They don’t always take the oldest!” Brittany was clearly alarmed. “And I won’t be eighteen for another week. And—“Her eyes flashed around to make sure no one was paying attention, “There’s always Sasha.”  
Thalia snorted.  
Sasha had been present for as long as anyone could remember. That meant she had to be at least twenty-two. She had also been bedridden for as long as Thalia had been on the ship. She had suffered a severe break-down upon being brought aboard, or so the story went. The gearmen kept her alive by feeding her with tubes, and kept her clean by washing her with a rag. They went so far as to play the educational discs in her room, but Sasha never took her blank eyes from the ceiling. Something deep inside of her had broken. Now she felt nothing, did nothing, like a gearman someone had turned off.  
Some days, Thalia was almost jealous of her. Almost.  
“If they wanted her, they would have taken her by now, I suppose.” Brittany mused, unsettled by Thalia’s silence.   
“I suppose,” She replied, but more in mockery than in assent.   
Two gearmen were stationed on either side of the door to the cafeteria, the same as every morning. Each held a small black pen. As each girl passed them, she would extend her arm and they would press a pen to her skin. With a small beep, it would take a tiny blood sample. To assure their health, was the only answer the gearmen would give. It didn’t hurt after the hundredth time.   
Thalia and Brittany were soon the only two remaining. Suddenly feeling uneasy in each other’s company, they exchanged farewells. As they left, both extended their arm. The gearmen both drew their sample and the girls passed by.   
Something began to beep.   
Curious, Thalia turned to see the gearman that had just pricked her arm look down at his pen. There was a green light blinking near the top, and it was emitting a soft beep every half second. The gearman looked as if he would have been surprised, if he were capable of emotions.  
The gearman opened a small compartment in the wall that Thalia had never noticed before. He slid the pen into the opening, and it shot directly up, as if in a suction tube. The other gearman handed him a new pen, and they resumed their positions as of nothing had happened.  
“Well, that’s new,” Thalia said, unsure whether to be curious or alarmed. Nothing new ever happened here, ever.  
“Maybe you broke it,” Brittany said uneasily, and forced herself to swallow, “Your blood got too toxic with sarcasm, or something,”   
“I bet that’s it,” Thalia agreed, although she was anything but decided on the topic. “I’m glad that it… it broke. Nothing around here ever does,” She eyed the slick white panel that made up the wall. For a split second, she considered kicking it. The idea fled as quickly as it came.  
With that, they quickly hurried away, unease growing between them. Neither brought up the incident with the pen again. When they parted near Brittany’s room, their eyes met and they silently agreed not to mention it to the others. There was no reason to alarm everyone. Especially not after the night before.


	3. Taken

Thalia was woken by the sound of her door opening. She blinked in the darkness, confused. The gearmen had the lights timed to mimic the sunlight on their home planet. When it was dark, the girls were required to sleep. For their health, of course. No one had ever entered her room while it was dark before.  
“Hello?” She asked, trying to make out shapes in the total dark. Maybe she had imagined the noise.   
“Hello,” A deep voice responded.  
The lights overhead came on. Instead of building slowly like normal, they blinked on in all of their full noontime glory. Thalia threw her arm across her eyes while they adjusted. Her breathing started to come fast.  
“Who is there?” She asked, trying to stay calm. This was new. This had never happened before. She could not panic. She did not want to be drugged again. Her voice was strained by the sudden stress developing in her body. “What do you want?”  
There was a soft, deep chuckle, and the breath caught in her throat. Adrenaline began to pump through her veins. Gearmen had soft, kind voices, almost the pitch of an alto. And they did not laugh.  
She squinted her eyes in the brightness, trying to locate the man—a man!—in her room. Moving as slowly as possible, she shifted her legs beneath the blankets. They were off the side, the tips of her toes just brushing the floor, when he responded.  
“It is not what I want that matters,” His voice was in a different place now. He was moving around the bed! “It is what my King wants.”  
“And who,” She asked, quickly rising to her feet and dropping her arm, “Is your—”  
It was not a man. It was a thing, a creature. And it was much closer to her than she had thought.  
Thalia scrambled back from it, and in her haste ended up sprawled backwards on the bed. She kept her eyes locked on the creature and she quickly crawled backwards putting the bed between them.  
The creature laughed.   
She was frozen there, staring at him. His skin was perfectly white, like polished marble. Big, bulging muscles strained beneath his skin, as if they would tear through at any second. Thick blue veins pulsed just beneath. The only covering he wore was a white cloth wrapped intricately about his middle. He loomed over her, over everything in her small room. His head had less than a foot of clearance, and the ceiling was at least eight feet high.  
And his head! It was too large for his body, bulbous, almost. He was completely bald, and he had huge, deep set black eyes that seemed to bore into her. He had no nose, just two inch long slits above harsh, black lips.   
Before she realized she was backing away, she bumped into the wall. She was stuck, no escape from the thing. So she did the one thing she had once sworn never to do.  
She screamed for the gearmen.   
Two appeared in the doorway almost immediately, and she ran towards them. The first one she came to caught her by the upper arms and spun her around, so that she was still facing the thing. She begged the gearman holding her to let her go. She pleaded with the one beside him, blocking the door. She would be good. She would do whatever they wanted. Just, please, help her!  
They ignored her completely, and instead looked to the creature.  
“May we assist you, General Thruk?”   
“No,” The creature chuckled again, and little flecks of pink danced across his chest, as if he was blushing. “I guess it’s too late for that. I see you have not been educating them properly, unless this one is just surprisingly dense?”  
“Thalia is of moderate intelligence for her species,” The gearman holding her chirped happily. Had it not been for the frightening creature in her bedroom, Thalia might have taken offense. Given the situation, she let it go.  
“We were instructed not to educate the vessels on other species after a particular incident with a very promising vessel.” The other gearman finished, and the creature sighed. “The Admiral did not want to render them all comatose, when they could be of other use.”  
Comatose? Did he mean Sasha?  
“Yes, yes,” The creature—General-- waved his hand at this idea, dismissing it. “Well, she seems calm enough now. Let us get on with it. We have a long way to travel and the King is not known for patience.”  
“No!” Thalia shrieked and dug in her heels as the gearman started drawing her backwards, through the door. “I’ll scream, I’ll wake everyone!”  
The General made a flicking motion with his wrist, and the gearmen ceased dragging her. Her arms were still locked in their grips, and she was unable to pull away as the creature approached her.  
“Oh, small one,” He raised a long, white finger and let the nail drag along her jaw line. The pointed tip cut the skin like a thin razor, and a single drop of blood trailed down her neck. “Everyone is already awake and ready to see you off.”  
She stared at him, uncomprehending. He flicked his hand once more and the gearmen resumed dragging her backwards. She was nothing against their unhuman strength. Struggle as she might, she could not gain a fraction of freedom.   
Finally she raised her eyes and found the General watching her struggling intently. His chest was glowing pink again, but now small specks of green had appeared as well. A small part of Thalia desperately wanted to ask him about the colors, but the rest of her was busy recognizing the look in his eyes.  
He was enjoying this.   
The realization hit her like a bucket of cold water. She went limp in the Gearmen’s grasp. They did not seem to notice, and dragged her body forward through the ship without a change in pace.   
The General, however, frowned slightly. The pink on his chest faded away, replaced by clouds of grey. Small dots of stormy grey and black began to appear near his eyes as well. Thalia tried to focus on them, to discern what they meant, but eventually she gave in to the sheer horror of his face and looked away.   
The girls were all standing near the hidden stairway that led down to the sanctuary. They were all in rumpled nightgowns, with tousled hair. Fear seemed to ooze from their pores. The air was thick with it. Many of the girls were being held in place by the firm grasps of the gearmen.   
When the General rounded the corner, screams echoed down the hall. Thalia winced, and looked over just in time to see the little girl, Emily, break from the group and attempt to run. A gearman was on her in seconds, and pressed a needle into her arm. The small girl collapsed to the floor.   
Thalia wanted to scream, but her throat was raw. Her chest was so tight that breathing became a chore.  
The General gestured, and the wall opposite the hidden stairs slid open. Within was a giant room that she was sure none of them had seen before. It was a docking bay. A large ship was docked there, waiting. Thalia heard the engine roar to life and a gangplank was lowered. Gearmen were everywhere, turning various knobs and staring intently at strange writing as it flashed across a wall of computer screens.   
This was wrong. When a girl was taken, it was swiftly, silently. No one was present. No one was forced to watch. There were no creatures leering at everyone. This was not how it worked. Everything always happened the same way here, every single day was the same.  
Until today.   
The gearmen steered Thalia up the gangplank, into the enormous beast of a ship. She stumbled to get her feet below her, struggled to get air into her lungs. Dark spots began to form at the edges of her vision. Through the ringing in her ears, she heard the General begin to laugh again.   
“Bid goodbye to your Princess, ladies,” He called to the girls, “You will never see her again.”  
Without the aid of needles, Thalia lost consciousness.


	4. The Creature in the Mirror

Thalia woke to the unusual sensation of someone stroking her hair. Groaning, she tried to bat the offending hand away, only to find her arm restrained to the bed. She tried the other, and it too refused to budge. When her legs wouldn’t move either, panic roused her fully. Her eyes flew open and swept the room in confusion. Her chapped lips parted to scream—  
The hand that had previously been petting her hair clapped down over her mouth.  
“Easy,” A familiar voice said, “You’re going to be okay, Thalia. Just stay calm and they will let you stay conscious. I need to talk to you.”  
That voice was so familiar, but Thalia didn’t dare allow herself to recognize it. Her head was restrained in some way, and she couldn’t turn to look at the speaker.  
When Amanda’s warm green eyes appeared above her, Thalia felt tears leak from the corner of her eyes and run into the hair at her temples.   
“Shssh,” Amanda cooed, and she returned to stroking Thalia’s hair. “Everything is going to be fine.”  
“You were gone,” Thalia choked, “They took you away.”  
“I know, sweetheart,” The older girl soothed. “But they let me come talk to you. I told them we were friends, and you would listen to me. Will you?”  
“Yes,” Thalia responded, and took a deep breath to stop her crying. She tensed each part of her body in turn, pulling hard against each restraint. None of them so much as budged. “What choice do I have, anyway?”  
Amanda sighed. “You don’t even remember, do you?”  
“Remember what?” Thalia snapped, suddenly annoyed with how calm Amanda seemed. Hadn’t they both just been snatched away from the only life they knew? And now they were somewhere, God knew where, with a strange creature that could want nothing pleasant from them! Not to mention being tied to a bed—  
“Wait,” Her eyes flicked around, seeking out her friend’s, “Why aren’t you tied down too?”  
“I was, for a while,” Amanda’s voice was further away now. Thalia heard the sound of a door being opened, and her friend whispered something unintelligible to someone Thalia could not see.   
Before Thalia could panic that she was being left alone, her friend’s face returned above her. The whirring of gearmen was the only warning Thalia had before her restraints suddenly retracted into the bed, freeing her.  
“Easy,” Amanda pressed a hand onto each of Thalia’s shoulders when she would have risen. “You’ve been lying down for a long time. Take it slow.”  
With Amanda’s help, Thalia slowly rose to a sitting position on the bed. Blood pounded in her head and her eyes went dark for a moment. Then, slowly, the room seemed to stabilize before her.   
It was a small, sterile looking room. There were windows set into each of the walls, through which Thalia could see gearmen milling about in a larger room. The bed was more of a medical gurney than an actual bed, now that she could look down at it. Everything was white, of course.  
“How long was I out?” Thalia asked, and her eyes fell on a small white table nearby. Tubes of various sizes were laid out neatly. She swallowed and felt the tell-tale scrape in her throat. “They fed me?”  
“They had to,” Amanda returned, looking almost ashamed. “You collapsed when they brought you on board. Each time you woke, you would thrash and scream. It was terrible. They were afraid you were going to hurt yourself. Sedating you was the best option. I had no idea they were going to put you under for a month—“  
“A month!” Thalia screamed. Beeps began to sound from all corners of the room, and a gearman appeared in the doorway.  
“Do you require assistance, Lady Amanda?” He asked, and glanced at a monitor set in the wall. The beeping stopped when he pressed a button nearby. “It is important her heartrate does not increase further.”  
“For my health, of course.” Thalia mocked, and laid back down on the bed. “Go away!” She threw the words at the gearman, “I’ll be calmer without the sound of you whirring around!”  
“Yes, Princess,” The gearman responded, and promptly left.  
Total silence filled the room for a split second, and then it shattered.  
“What?!” Thalia yelled. She bounded to her feet before Amanda could catch her. She stumbled forward, trying to remain upright, and grabbed onto the white table near the bed for support. Her legs felt so weak. “Princess?”   
The word was almost drowned out by the beeping coming from that damn panel. The one monitoring her heart. She whirled to face Amanda again, and shouted over the sound of the alarms of various pieces of medical equipment.  
“Princess?” She yelled at her friend, “Lady?”   
Gearmen appeared in the doorway, but she screamed at them to leave. To her surprise, they did. The last one to exit flipped a small switch near the door, and all of the medical equipment went silent again.  
Amanda was looking at her with wide eyes.   
“I was trying to explain.” Her friend said. She looked as if she might cry.   
“Then explain!”   
“It’s so much to tell!” Amanda returned, “Please, I’m still trying to get used to it myself. Please, Thalia, just give me a second to think!”  
“Fine, think,” Thalia responded, her voice bitter. Her legs were shaking, but she did not want to return to the bed they had strapped her to. Instead, she ran her arm across the table top, taking pleasure as all the sterile tubes crashed against the floor. With some effort, she hoisted herself atop the table in a sitting position and leaned her back against the wall. Once settled, she looked to Amanda expectantly.  
“When they… took me,” Amanda started slowly, “There was no one to explain this all to me. I had to figure it out as I went. It took a couple days before I worked up the nerve to ask General Thruk anything. He can be so terrifying.” She swallowed deeply.  
“But when I finally did, he told me that they had taken me from the ship because they had found a mate for me—a husband I was compatible with. I was given to Thruk by the Arktzirax government, as a reward for his years of dedicated service. It is the highest honor the Arktzirax can bestow, although there is still no guarantee that General Thruk and I will be able to have children—”  
“Children? With the--” Thalia interrupted, dumbfounded. “Arka-thorax? What are you talking about? You’re married? To the… him?”  
“Yes,” Amanda lowered her eyes, and responded in a monotone voice, “It is a great honor to be chosen for him. I am very grateful. Thruk has made sure I am aware of how lucky I am.”  
“You sound like a gearman,” Thalia returned, alarmed. Her friend had obviously been through a lot. She suddenly felt guilty for being so angry with her earlier. “What did they do to you?”  
“They,” Her friend began, then took a deep breath and started over. This time she sounded more like her old self. “They are called the Arktzirax. They are our sovereign rulers. Our planet was conquered by them many generations ago. We have been kept isolated for our own good, to keep our species alive.”  
“Why?” Thalia asked cautiously, afraid of the answer.   
“Because they need compatible species,” Amanda answered, looking down at the fabric of her dress and pulling at a stray string. Anything to avoid Thalia’s eyes. “The female Arktzirax went extinct a long time ago. To survive, they have conquered most of this galaxy, searching for mates to bare their offspring. They call us Vessels.”  
“And the races that aren’t compatible?” Thalia asked quietly, she clenched her hands into a fist in her lap to keep them from shaking, “And the men? What do they do with them?”  
“Eliminated,” Amanda returned sadly, “Save a few taken for slave labor, and for breeding purposes.”  
“Breeding?” Thalia asked, confused, “But you said if they weren’t compatible—“  
“Not every member of a compatible species is capable of bearing offspring with an Arktzirax.” Her friend interrupted.   
“They have developed testing that allows them to determine which females are the most compatible, but they have not been able to isolate a particular gene that explains why one would be a successful Vessel and another would not. Compatibility is more of a spectrum than a simple yes or no. To keep a supply of potential Vessels on hand, they must constantly have access to new… bodies… to test.”  
“So they keep humans locked away somewhere? Force them to breed?” Thalia was surprised by the calm in her body. It seemed that she could only be so frightened before the fear turned to numbness, “Why not just make their own children breed? If they made enough using…Vessels… they could restart their species and let us go!”  
“Yes,” Amanda nodded, “Thruk said that was originally the plan. However, there has never been a female child born to an Arktzirax and a Vessel. Their species is still completely male. Without the Vessels, they would go extinct. So they search the galaxies and enslave other races, until they achieve the ultimate goal: a female Arktzirax child.”  
“That’s terrible.” Thalia responded, after a moment. The entire idea was so revolting, she could hardly fathom it. “So the blood testing—”  
“Tests the compatibility and sexual maturity of a Vessel.” Amanda’s voice was monotone once again, she was retreating deep within herself, “When they are deemed to be at their peak of fertility, they are taken and assigned a mate. Either as a gift of the government, or sold to the highest bidder. Those that never reach this point and remain below fifty-percent compatibility, are returned to the breeding program in hopes that the next generation will be more compatible.”  
“And when they took my blood…” Thalia began, but couldn’t bring herself to finish. She remembered the looks of almost-surprise on the Gearmen’s faces, the beeping of the pen. The General’s voice rang in her ears, calling her princess.  
“From what they can tell,” Amanda said slowly, watching Thalia’s face intently for any signs of renewed panic, “You are as close to a complete match as they have ever seen. The King has designated you as a—a gift—for the Crown Prince.”  
“The…” Thalia started, but her voice failed her. She attempted to clear it, but was unable to get the rising terror from building a solid lump in her throat.  
“Well said,” The General’s voice came from the doorway, and Amanda jumped to her feet in surprise. Her friend didn’t even look up at her husband. Instead Amanda stood still as a statue, her hands clasped before her. Her head was lowered so that her eyes could study the ground intently.  
“You have learned much here,” The General continued, although he did not sound completely happy about it. Swirls of grey began to appear on his chest. “Although, I do not remember giving you permission to divulge this information to the Princess.”  
Thalia murmured something, and his large head snapped toward her.  
“Well,” He prompted, his dark eyes boring into her, “What have you to say?”  
“I…I asked her,” Thalia forced out. She tried to meet his gaze, but lost her nerve and returned it to the floor. “And,” She continued, voice shaking only slightly, “If I’m going to be a Princess, isn’t she supposed to do what I say?”  
“No.” He responded, and crossed his thick white arms across his chest, “My mate answers only to me. She only stands there breathing because I allow it. I have the right to tell her to stop even that and, under the law, she would obey. Shall we try it?”  
Amanda’s face had gone as white as her husband’s, but she made no sound. Her eyes never left the floor.  
“That’s ridiculous!” Thalia exclaimed, rising to her feet. Her fury seemed to drown out some of the fear the General inspired. “She is a person, not a puppet that you can tell what to do and say!”   
“Is that so?” He asked.  
In her anger, Thalia had taken a few steps towards the General. She only realized her error when he reached out and trailed the tip of his finger along her cheek bone. Afraid that he would cut her again, Thalia stumbled backward violently and went tumbling to the floor.  
The General let out a deep laugh, and pink rose on his chest, chasing away the grey. Specks of green appeared again as he let his black eyes trail over her. His eyes paused for a moment on her breasts, which were heaving beneath her nightgown with her panic. One corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile, and his teeth flashed a severe white against the black skin of his lips.  
“Your words say one thing, Princess,” He murmured, still smiling, “Yet, your body already appears to be learning. Human fear is such a handy thing. You should listen to it, instead of trying to defeat it. Like pain, it is your body’s way of telling you what is— and what is not— safe.”  
He returned his gaze to Thalia’s face, and she forced herself to meet his eyes. The fear he inspired was so intense, her mind went completely blank. She had no doubt that this creature could end her. He could crush her beneath his fist and she would be nothing but a streak on the perfectly white floor.  
And he would enjoy it.  
“I advise you learn to keep that mouth of yours shut, Princess,” The General continued, still smiling, “It is the wish of everyone here that you remain as safe as possible until you can be delivered into the arms of His Highness. After that, only he will have to spare a thought in regards to your safety.”   
He flicked his hand and Amanda came to his side, her head still bowed low. Her entire body visibly shook when he wrapped one thick arm around her.   
“Make no mistake, Princess,” He addressed Thalia as he ran a hand through Amanda’s blonde hair. “You are the property of a very powerful man. That does not make you powerful.”  
With that, he balled his hand into a fist, causing Amanda to yelp. He kept his fist entangled in her hair as he strode from the room. Amanda had to walk quickly to keep up with his long strides, her head wrenched to the side awkwardly. The door banged shut behind them.   
The sound of the door slamming broke the spell. Thalia lunged to her feet and threw herself against the door, yanking at the handle. Despite her efforts, it would not budge. The terror and anger inside of her broke free, and she screamed as she banged her fists against the door.   
“Stand back, please.” A pleasant voice came from the other side of the door, and Thalia stumbled back a few paces so that the door could be opened. Instead of releasing her, however, two gearmen stepped into the room and closed the door behind them.   
“Let me go,” She pleaded, although she knew they would not.  
“You are hysterical,” One gearman said, followed quickly by the other’s stating that her breathing was too rapid.  
“My heart’s beating too fast.” She returned, her tone threatened violence, “My breathing is too rapid. I’m panicking, you idiots! I’m scared! I’m not a damned robot!”  
“You are human,” One gearman stated simply. “Your heart speeds with fear. Your lungs move too rapidly to let you attain adequate oxygen.”  
“You will lose consciousness soon.” The other agreed. “Would you like assistance?”  
“I don’t want to pass out,” She panted, and wrapped her arms tightly around her torso, struggling for breath.   
One gearman stepped forward and held his hand out toward her face. She instinctively flinched. Instead of producing a needle, the end of his finger flipped open. The golden tube that made up the bone of his finger extended and, with an audible hiss, began to produce a mist.  
“Inhale, please, Princess,” He instructed in his cheery voice.  
Although doubting their motives, Thalia had few options. Spots were already forming in her vision. Her legs were becoming heavy beneath her. She leaned forward and inhaled the mist.  
Instantly, her vision cleared. The tightness in her chest relaxed, and she took a deep breath as her thoughts began to fall back into order. She blinked a few times and looked back at the gearman. He had stepped back to stand beside his colleague.  
“Thank you,” She said, and her voice was clear. “I didn’t know you could do that.”  
“You are welcome, Princess,” The gearman responded politely, “We can assist in many ways, but it is in our programming to ask first.”  
Thalia thought of all the times the gearmen had offered her assistance. She had always assumed they were offering something forceful and unpleasant. She wondered now how many unnecessary hardships she had suffered, always refusing them.  
“If I asked you to stop calling me Princess, would you?” She asked.  
“No,” The gearman responded. “It is your proper title.”  
“But I’m not married yet.” She said, and was suddenly baffled that her nerves stayed quiet within her. Married, she was going to be married. To an alien. Now, of all times, was the time to panic. Whatever it was the gearman had given her, it definitely had worked.   
“His Majesty has ordained that you will mate with His Highness, the Mighty Prince Xieol,” It was the other Gearman’s turn to speak, “As the King has ordained it, it will come to be. You are our Princess.”  
“We must go now, Princess.” They said in unison. Without another word, they turned and headed toward the door.   
Thalia stood by the bed, confused at their sudden departure. For once conversing with the gearmen had almost been pleasant. Although her nerves had been steadied, she was still uneasy to be left alone. A part of her was relieved when they opened the door and stood back, waiting for her to exit.  
“Oh,” Thalia said, “You meant, me too?”  
They confirmed this in cheery unison, “Yes, Princess”.  
When she approached the door, one gearman took his place in front of her and bid her follow. As she stepped through the doorway after him, the other gearman took up a place at her back. Although they were each a few paces apart, Thalia felt slightly uncomfortable with the arrangement. It was crowded, and she wanted to look around.  
“We must stay together, and move swiftly, Princess,” The gearman behind her said. “For your safety, of course.”  
“Of course,” She mimicked dryly. This, at least, was not completely new. The gearmen back on the Quarantine Ship had always carried on about her health in the same manner. It was oddly comforting.   
They marched her quickly through what she came to understand was the medical deck of the ship. She didn’t see much aside from the typical white walls and gearmen milling about. As they passed down a white-walled corridor, a thought occurred to her.  
“That crea—man,” She caught herself just in time, not wanting to insult him in front of what could only be his robotic minions, “He wouldn’t hurt Amanda for something I did, would he?”  
“No,” A Gearman responded, although she wasn’t sure which one it had been. She supposed it didn’t really matter.   
“General Thruk is one of very few to be assigned a mate,” The gearman continued. “If she died, he would not be given another. We prize our vessels above all else, Princess.”  
“But would he hurt her?” Thalia pressed.  
“I do not know, Princess.” The gearman responded. “Each man treats his mate differently. Humans are very easily harmed by the Arktzirax, even unintentionally.”  
While this was intended to comfort her, it didn’t. Thruk could do whatever he wanted to Amanda, as long as he didn’t kill her, and no one would stop him. Thalia felt the first true pang of anxiety since she had breathed in the relaxing mist.   
After that, they walked in silence.   
They turned a corner and walked into what appeared to be a dead end. Before Thalia could question them, the gearmen walked forward and rapped lightly on the wall at the end of the hallway. Rustling could be heard, before a hidden door snapped open and a woman appeared.  
“Welcome!” A portly woman appeared in the doorway, her arms flung dramatically to the side. “I must say it is such an honor, an unbelievable honor, truly, to meet you, Princess!”  
Thalia stood where she was, very much taken aback by the woman.  
She was human, as far as Thalia could see. Her skin was the pure white of a life spent indoors, but not opaque the way the Arktzirax’s had been. Her eyes were a milky grey, set under thick brows. As the woman spun and flounced, unable to contain her joy, Thalia noticed the sagging skin of her underarms bouncing along with the rest of her.   
The woman wore a billowing white dress that hung from two tiny, intricately tied white ropes at her neck. Aside from her face and arms, the rest of her body was eaten up by the fabric. The sheer quantity it took to cover the woman suggested that she was quite large. She had dishwater blonde hair twisted into a knot on the crown of her head, leaving the wrinkles in her neck on full display.   
Noticing Thalia’s stare, the woman reached down and smoothed the material of her dress. Not that it improved the picture she made.  
“I am so sorry,” She continued, obviously trying to get ahold of her enthusiasm, “Where are my manners? I am Elaine!” She threw her arms wide again, and the skin hanging from them bounced. “I am honored to be of service to you, Your Highness.”  
“Please,” Thalia said, “Call me Thalia, this whole princess thing is completely--”  
“Oh my, good Heavens, no!” Elaine threw her arms wide again, “That most certainly, well, it will just not do at all! But such a good, very nice name for you to have, Princess, and I am sure His Mightiness will take great pleasure, as he certainly should, in calling you by it. If that is, of course, what he desires to do!”  
Thalia looked back at the gearmen, who were standing silently behind her. Surely, this woman was mad and they would rescue her from this situation.  
“You must stay with Lady Elaine,” One of them chirped. “We will stand guard while she prepares you.”  
“Oh!” Elaine squealed, “How fun! To have someone to dress and paint, like my own, my very own little doll!”  
“A doll?” Thalia exclaimed. “I don’t think—”  
“Well of course not, never my doll, darling, dear!” Elaine gripped her wrist and pulled her forward into the room. The door snapped shut behind them.  
“But of course we must have you looking presentable, not that you are anything but, and looking nice and put together, without appearing to have tried! By all accounts – mine own included now that I have met you— you are such a beauty! Quite the sweet little thing for His Mightiness, if you don’t mind me saying so, that is, my Princess. We enhance, we adorn! This way now, Darling Dear!”  
She was led further into the smoky room as Elaine continued to chatter away. Foreign smells assaulted her nose. They were not all unpleasant, but they were definitely all very alien to her, and in combination the scent was nearly overwhelming. Thalia’s eyes began to water as Elaine guided her to a large, plush chair in the middle of the room.   
“Now, you stop that right now, if you don’t mind, my lady,” Elaine scolded, seeing her tears, “Heavens know I have a right ton of work to do without your tears drip dropping all my hard work away! Not that it will be overly so much work, you understand, seeing as you are so, so, very lovely. Yet I must stake my poor old reputation not on just your lovely, bright as it is, sweet face, but instead upon my powers to enhance and glorify what was already there! You comprehend, sweet princess, of course you do, how much must ride upon such an important task for an old woman like me!”  
Thalia did not understand, but she managed to clear some of the smoke away from her face by waving a hand before it. After a few minutes, her nose seemed to adjust to the foreign smells. She gathered, by listening to Elaine’s rambling, that they were exotic perfumes. They had been brought from all over the empire for her to present to the new princess. Each was made from a different flower from a different planet. When smelled one at a time, most actually smelled very nice.   
“I have never smelled a flower before,” Thalia commented absently, as she turned the bottle in her hands. The liquid within was a sharp yellow in color, and Thalia found the sight of it splashing against the inside of the amber bottle enchanting.   
“Never smelled a flower!” Elaine exclaimed, and took the bottle from the girl’s hands. Elaine picked up a brush and set to work untangling Thalia’s waist length black hair. “But of course, you silly thing, to have smelled a flower on a Quarantine Ship or a Breeding Barge! Such a thought! But now, I dare say, Your Highness, you will look forward to smelling much finer things than such a normal, grotesquely simple, really, old weed like that! On a regular, daily basis I would be so inclined to reckon, as I am told, by those I hold in my own high regard, mind you, that His Mightiness the Prince enjoys only the finest things in all the galaxies, as he should, being who he is. This justly indulgence in excellence will most certainly, of course, expose yourself to loveliness beyond my simple comprehension!”  
Thalia’s mind mulled over what Elaine could have possibly meant by a ‘breeding barge’, but all of her questions were pushed aside. Elaine only concerned herself with her paints, her perfumes and her fabrics, she told Thalia, and would say no more on the subject.  
It seemed the only subject that Elaine did not want to discuss, and at length. Although Thalia quickly realized that her input in the conversation was not required. She allowed herself to slip into a sort of half-trance as the large woman puttered about behind her.  
When she had been thoroughly doused with perfume and her hair brushed to Elaine’s satisfaction, the older woman brought forth a large pot of white paint. Humming with excitement, she cupped both hands and dipped them into the bucket. She then applied both handfuls to Thalia’s hair.   
The paint was sticky, and smelled sour. It was so thick that it completely obscured the black pigment of Thalia’s hair. The girl watched the mirror in horror as any speck of black vanished. Elaine was left with a dripping, white sticky mess of hair between her hands.   
“You know that he, being the prince, I mean, knows you are not of his kind. Imagine him mating with you if one of his own kind was to be had! That would be such a laugh, really, not that extinction is anything at all to laugh about. Only the worst among us, the least cultured, would find humor in such a thing! But we cannot think that His Mightiness will not be overly, thoroughly, pleased to see you all done up like those great ladies used to be! Not that I was there, my dear, no, no, even I am not so old! But we are left with their likenesses in murals, paintings and such. It is enough for this old woman to mimic! And so well I would bet my mighty prince might even doubt his highly self, if only a moment, thinking we had captured for him a true Arktzirax mate! Oh, the thought, it makes my old heart fill with little pitter-patters!”  
With that, Elaine gave Thalia’s hair a mighty twist, and brought it up over the top of her head so that it lay, curling slightly, on her cheek.  
“Isn’t that just the loveliest thing?” The large woman exclaimed and came around to the front of the chair. “Now don’t go and touch it now, dearest one, the paste must set so that it will hold! Oh, if it were to come apart now, I would be undone! Would be the end of me, to be sure, I would die right here on this very spot! That would be quite the shock, indeed it would, for you Princess, so I beseech you, please, not to go touch-touching with those dainty fingers of yours!”  
Elaine turned her back to her for a moment and returned with more pastes, gels and powders. Thalia sat as still as possible as her hair dried atop her head, the sheer weight of it made her neck begin to ache.  
The older woman worked carefully on Thalia’s face as she chattered away. The girl had ceased listening.   
White powder was applied to her face, neck and arms to make her skin look as opaque as the General’s. Once that was accomplished, Elaine began adding spots of color back. Her chest and cheeks were given a bright pink flush, with yellow swirling through it. Three dots of purple were placed just below one eye. To complete the look, the woman painted Thalia’s lips a glossy black.  
Clearly pleased with her work, Elaine stood back and fell silent, simply admiring Thalia. Thalia held her own gaze in the mirror, and could not believe what was reflected there.   
“My hair…” She started, confused, “It looks like a tentacle coming over my head—”  
“Yes, yes, indeed, dear one!” Elaine clapped her hands and bounced in place, “You perceive, then, my grand scheme? My plan to top all other works I have ever done, indeed, to top all works done anywhere by anyone. You see, child, how much you look Arktzirax!”  
No words were forth coming. Thalia simply sat gaping at her bizarre reflection while Elaine disappeared behind her. The door snapped open, and a gearman entered, a large amount of white fabric draped over one arm.  
They bid her stand, and Thalia complied without a fuss. Elaine swiftly undid the buttons of her nightgown and shoved it to the floor. The older woman shushed Thalia when she tried to protest, and finally she relented. She stood still as Elaine applied more white powder to every inch of her body.  
Soon it was over, and the gearman stepped forward with the fabric. Thalia was so relieved not to be naked that for once she did not protest to a gearman dressing her. He worked efficiently, wrapping the sheer fabric about her in a complicated way that she knew she would never be able to duplicate. When he was finished, he twisted the two remaining ends until they resembled rope and secured them behind her neck. The sheer fabric had transformed into a halter-style dress before her eyes, and yet Thalia had no idea how it had happened.  
Elaine was upon her before the gearman had moved completely out of the way. She slipped a dainty golden anklet around Thalia’s right ankle before biding the girl to step into a pair of soft white slippers.  
The older woman took a step back and sighed, surveying her work. “I do believe I have quite outdone myself, indeed, I do, my dear.”  
For the first time, she seemed to be waiting for Thalia to respond. All the girl could manage was a stiff nod. Inside, a small part of Thalia was screaming. She was terrified of the creature she saw in the mirror.


	5. No Prince Charming

They disembarked General Thruk’s ship as soon as Elaine released Thalia. To the girl’s disappointment, there still wasn’t much to see. Thruk’s ship sat in a large white docking bay, in a long row of similar ships. It seemed an endless world of white walls and gearmen. As they stepped off the gangplank, a gearman suddenly bid her halt.  
The gearman stepped forward and efficiently took her arm, although Thalia could not decide why. She was not stupid enough to run away now. Even she could see that the gearmen would be upon her before she took three steps. Not that she had a clue where to run anyway.  
As her slippered feet touched down on the white floor of the docking bay, she understood.  
The whole world felt as if it was sinking. Her clothes became heavy, and the hair on her head felt like it might crush her skull beneath its weight. She became dizzy, and brought her hand over her mouth against a sudden wave of nausea.  
“Remain calm.” The gearman instructed.   
Thalia was grateful for his supportive hand on her arm. Without it, she would have gone crashing to the ground. As the nausea passed, Thalia glanced about for the culprit, but could find nothing to blame. It was simply a large, white docking bay. No different from the one they had departed from on the Quarantine Ship, except larger. Much larger.  
“You are on-planet, Princess,” The Gearman said, “The gravity sickness will pass quickly. We will wait until you are ready to proceed.”  
“On-planet?” She gasped against the fading nausea. As far as she knew, she had spent her entire life docked in deep space. Exhilaration washed through her. She was on a planet! This was what real, natural gravity felt like. Somewhere, down beneath the slick white floor was ground! Maybe even the brown dirt of a planet like Earth, the origin planet of her species. If only she could see it.  
“I’m okay,” She told the gearman quickly, excited for the first time since she was taken from the Quarantine Ship.   
When the group stepped off again, Thalia was annoyed at their pace. She craned her neck around as they turned each corner, hoping to catch sight of something bright, something colorful. To her disappointment, however, all they saw where more white walls. If it weren’t for the strong gravity pressing her feet to the ground, she might have believed they had entered another ship.  
“Will I even get to see outside?” Thalia asked a gearman, her voice low with disappointment.  
“The ceremonial chamber has windows, Princess.” He responded happily.  
For once Thalia was not annoyed by his cheery voice. Windows! She had learned about spaceships with thick glass planes that allowed the occupants to look out upon the stars. To learn that they had them here, on a planet, was almost too good to be true. What would you see through such a window? Surely there was something to look at, or they would not have been installed.  
“Are we going there now?” She asked, and Elaine chuckled.  
“Yes, Princess.” The gearman said, and Thalia could not help the smile that spread across her painted face.  
“Such enthusiasm to meet His Highness!” Elaine said, “But of course, my dearest Princess, why would you not be so excited? He is the mightiest of all men, your betrothed is, and not a soul would ever doubt it! Oh to be young and feel such a bright, burning hope for the future! I dare say I was just like you once, dear girl, just exactly as you are now, except I did not have the status that you have, and had quite less to yearn for, indeed I did, but yearn fiercely I did, regardless!”  
The joy left Thalia as quickly as it had come. A ceremonial chamber. Of course, she was being taken to be presented to her husband. There would be no escaping now. At least, she thought, she might be able to look out a window instead of looking at her mate. If he was anything like General Thruk, she wanted nothing to do with him.  
The group came to a set of large double doors. A gearman rapped twice and Thalia heard the blast of a musical instrument sound inside. After a few long moments, the doors opened wide.  
Thalia gasped at the scene before her.  
The entire room was golden. The floors had been polished so that they reflected the various people walking above them. The ceilings soared so high that Thalia knew they must indeed be on a planet somewhere, because this grand room would never fit inside a ship.   
The room was a grand circle, the circumference of which Thalia could not fathom. It was filled with people of all kinds. Most were tall and muscular men with white skin. They had to be Arktzirax. There were also short, squishy looking men with bright orange skin, and thin men who were a deep brown. The latter lacked faces entirely.   
Human women also moved about the crowd. Most were being clung to by a man of some species, but a few were lounging on pillows off to one side. They appeared to be laughing at some joke. With a start, Thalia realized that the other women had their hair unbound and un-powdered. Not a single woman in the crowd was adorned in the manner that Elaine had dressed Thalia.   
Anxiety began to creep up into Thalia’s throat.  
She was so busy looking around at the room, and its occupants, that it took a moment before Thalia noticed the large, raised dais in the middle of the room. Upon it sat two golden chairs, each one large enough to hold six girls Thalia’s size.   
Her chest tightened.  
A horn blasted somewhere, and General Thruk came to stand before the dais. Thalia quickly scanned the crowd for Amanda, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.  
“Gentlemen!” Thruk called out, and his voice boomed off of the golden walls in an alarming way. Every being in the room ceased speaking and turned towards him. Thalia had to remind herself to breathe. “His Majesty King Qutrax and His Mightiness, Prince Xieol!”   
Everyone leapt to their feet, and Thalia’s view was mostly obscured. She could just make out the large bulbous heads of the King and his son as they made their way from some other entrance to the middle of the room. There was something off about the shape of their heads, but Thalia could not put her finger on exactly what it was.   
When the two stepped upon the dais, Thalia got a much better view than she wanted.  
Both Arktzirax were above eight feet tall, with shoulders wider than three of Thalia’s put together. Next to the King and Prince, General Thruk appeared tiny.   
The royal pair were each robed in the same golden fabric, with shocks of purple running through it. As they stood surveying the crowd, the tops of their heads began to move slightly. Slowly, three long tentacles emerged from the skulls of each man.   
Thalia gasped and backed into the gearman behind her.  
Tentacles? They had tentacles! Not small ones, either. Thalia estimated that each horrifying appendage was equal in length to her arm. She felt suddenly sick. Her vision blurred. Panic began to build within her and she felt she would drown in it. Thalia spun and faced the gearman behind her.  
“Help,” She whispered, frantic, as she clung to the cold covering of his arm. “Please, I’m s-scared! Assist me!”  
“Yes, Princess.”  
The gearman quickly raised his hand, and Thalia inhaled the mist from his finger as deeply as she could. The panic instantly left her, but her fear did not dissipate completely. She still felt a deep sense of foreboding as she looked back at the royal pair. Each of them still had three tentacles waving casually in the air above their heads.  
The King made a small gesture and the crowd quickly scrambled to find their seats. Elaine vanished in the sudden swirl of people, and the gearmen each dropped to one knee. Thalia soon found herself standing alone by the door, much too conspicuous for her liking.  
King Qutrax’s large black eyes quickly found her. She could almost feel him assessing her as he looked her up and down. When he finally met her gaze, he held it for what felt an eternity. His black eyes were blank, betraying nothing of his thoughts. The only move he made was a slight flaring of the slits that were his nostrils. When his inspection was concluded, he gave a brief nod and extended his hand toward her.  
“Lady Thalia,” He announced to the assembled masses, and his voice boomed off the curved walls of the room.   
Thalia felt a single bead of sweat trail down the nape of her neck. At least he had not called her “Princess”. Her nerves still felt much steadier than they should. She silently thanked any deity listening for the gearmen and their mist.  
“I have heard much of you,” The King continued. As he spoke, he glanced across the room to assure that each being present was hanging on his every word.  
They were.  
“Today, I present this vessel to my son,” Another gesture towards Thalia, “A unique vessel that I deem almost worthy of him. For, you see, she is not only physically compatible with the Arktzirax but also,” Another quick glance about, “is a nearly perfect chemical match with our grand race!”  
There was a mixture of grasps and applause. The king let his thin black lips peel back in a smile. He raised a fist triumphantly and the cheers spread. Some of the audience rose to their feet. Thalia felt hundreds of eyes staring at her. Many of the Arktzirax men present began to slowly turn green, one swirl of color at a time. She didn’t dare look up at the prince to see if he had changed as well.  
“Yes!” The King continued, “We have finally achieved what we have so long sought. We now stand mere years away from being able to provide completely compatible vessels to all that are loyal to the crown. Our power will only grow with time. The day is coming, and soon, when the Arktzirax race will once again have our own women kneeling beside us. The days of the vessels are numbered!”   
Cheers echoed off the walls. Every man present was on his feet. Thalia felt very small amidst the screaming masses. The days of the vessels would be over. That had to be good. Somehow, she wasn’t completely sure. She couldn’t help wondering what would happen to all the girls on the Quarantine Ships, and the other humans that were locked away somewhere, breeding. It didn’t seem likely that the Arktzirax would just let them go.   
Order slowly returned to the assembly. As each man returned to his seat, her view of the King became clearer. He was still looking at her. When their eyes met again, he continued.  
“And, so, let us take the first step towards our bright future by welcoming Thalia, the new Princess of the Arktzirax!”  
Cheers erupted again. The gearmen were suddenly on their feet, nudging her forward. With a deep breath, Thalia managed to slowly walk toward the dais. Each step brought more cheers, and soon the King was looming over her. He extended his hand and, after a prod from the gearman behind her, she gently took it.  
King Qutrax pulled her up as if she weighed nothing. His hand dwarfed hers. She was quickly spun to face the room. Everything was a blur of color and sound. It was as if the gravity sickness had returned, only worse.  
In what seemed like an overly-grand gesture, the King placed her fingers into his son’s hand. The Prince’s fingers closed over hers like a vice, and she almost cried out. She looked up into his face and could not believe how tall he was. The top of her head was hardly at his breast.   
He glared down at her intently as their audience became almost frenzied with joy. The only response she could muster was a blush. He was so large. It seemed that he could have swallowed her whole. She tried again to look for Amanda, Elaine, or even the gearmen, but all she could see were large white bodies, black eyes and tentacles. The room was far too hot. Beads of sweat formed on her brow.  
“Do you accept my gift, Mighty Xieol?” The king’s voice boomed over the chaos.   
“I do,” The Prince returned, pulling Thalia into his chest with one strong arm. She felt his gravelly voice as much as she heard it, “She pleases me greatly.”  
“She has not pleased you yet,” His father returned with a laugh, “But she soon will!” The room erupted into laughter. A golden door swung open, and the King gestured toward it. “Now, go, and make us an heir!”  
Thalia was sure her face was perfectly white beneath Elaine’s paint as the Prince turned and exited the room, dragging her after him. When she trailed too far behind, he roughly gripped her by the upper arm. He pulled her forward with such force that he was nearly dragging her. She could feel the skin of her upper arm bruising and her shoulder threatening to dislocate, but could find no words to protest.  
Before she could think, the door had clicked shut behind them.   
Prince Xieol immediately flung her from him. She landed in a heap of white cloth six feet from him. Terror emanated from every pore as she raised her eyes to his. The creature that had seemed so calm in the other room was suddenly seething. He looked like a snake coiled to strike.   
Thalia didn’t realize she was whimpering until he harshly told her to stop. She instantly froze, hardly even breathing, as he ran his eyes over her. The room was so quiet in comparison to the golden Ceremonial Hall. The silence buzzed in her ears.  
“Stand up,” He ordered abruptly.   
She struggled to her feet, finding them tangled in the material of her dress. Her hand found the cool stone of a fountain behind her, and she used it to help pull herself up. Wanting to be brave, Thalia turned to face him. Her hands clung to the marble lip of the fountain behind her.  
His hand reached out slowly, and he swirled his finger along the colors Elaine had painted on her collarbone.  
“Is this how you really feel?” He asked.  
“I—” She shook her head in confusion and tightened her grip on the stone behind her, “I d-don’t know.”  
She watched as spots of black and grey began to pop up across his exposed chest.  
“W-what,” She cleared her throat nervously, “What do they mean?”  
His skin only darkened further. The black spots became red around their rim.  
“Pleasure,” He trailed his finger along the blush of pink on her collarbone. She shivered and shook her head slightly. His finger slowly moved to the swirls of yellow.  
“Excitement,” He added, and let his hand slide up her neck to tap the three spots of purple on her cheek.   
“Arousal,” He finished, and looked directly into her eyes.  
“No—” She choked on her own words, “I didn’t know—”  
“Lies,” He snarled, and gripped the white swirl of her hair harshly, “They paint you up to look like one of us, and you know nothing of us!” He pulled hard on her hair, and it came tumbling down. Pins went flying. Angry red marks bloomed beside his eyes.  
“Do they think I’m stupid?” He bellowed, leaning into her. His face was inches from hers. The force of his breath hit her face like a gust of wind. “Did they think I wouldn’t know notice?”  
“No,” Thalia choked on a sob. Mist or no mist, her terror was overcoming her senses. “I didn’t know!”  
“Of course not,” He returned, disgusted, “You know nothing. Your pitiful little brain cannot even fathom what I want in a mate! You are nothing. Do you understand?”  
“Yes!” She cried, and tears spilled over onto her cheeks, “I’m s-sorry!”  
“You will be,” He returned, but he stood back from her. His eyes closed for a moment. The spots of color on his body faded as he took a series of deep breaths. After a moment, his eyes opened again and he regarded her anew.  
“Well,” He said, almost to himself, “The damage is done. I might as well see what I’m stuck with.”  
Suddenly his hands were on her and he pushed her backwards into the fountain.   
Thalia landed with a splash, her head bouncing off the marble bottom. When she tried to sit up, Xieol grabbed her by the hair and forced her head back underwater. She thrashed violently, but he was too strong. Her lungs began to burn as he roughly scrubbed the make-up from her face.  
She managed to get her face above the waterline just long enough to get a single gulp of air and hear him yell, “Black!” as the paste washed out of her hair. She was submerged again.  
“Do I look stupid to you?” He demanded, finally pulling her up by the hair. She shook her head viciously as she gasped. Without mercy, he dunked her again.  
“I asked you a question!” He screamed directly in her face as he pulled her, sputtering, from the water again.   
“No!” She screamed, choking and spitting, “No, please, no!”  
He threw her backwards so that her head crashed into the marble again, but he let her right herself this time. When she emerged from the water, his face was directly above hers. His black eyes were dangerous.   
“No, what?”  
“No—no, Sir?” She asked, and he slapped her so hard her head snapped to one side. The skin of her lip cracked, her ears rang and she tasted blood, “No—Prince!” She screamed, “Prince!”  
“Your Highness,” He corrected harshly as he hauled her up by the hair. “Your Eminence, Your Great, Vast and Mightiness!”  
“Yes,” She was sobbing now, “Yes, Your Highness…”  
With a grunt, he flung her sideways. She landed in a wet, miserable heap on the floor. Sobs wracked her body. A door opened but she barely registered it, or the two gearmen that had just walked in.   
With a roar, the Prince snapped off the head of one of them and threw it towards her. It skittered to a stop near her face and she screamed. Her throat locked up and she barely pulled herself up onto her elbows before she began to retch.  
“Lovely,” The Price commented, and turned his attention to the remaining gearman.  
“Take her,” He commanded, “Fix her. Bring her to me when you are done.”  
The Gearman’s cold hands were comforting against her feverish skin. He pulled her gently to her feet, but her legs failed her. The gearman easily swept her up into his arms.  
“And do a better job this time!” The Prince bellowed after them as the gearman carried her from the room.   
Windows, Thalia’s thoughts drifted hazily as she lost consciousness.   
The fountain room had windows.


	6. The Tower

“Drink, Princess,” A calm voice floated through the haze. “There you go, easy now,”  
Thalia coughed on the liquid sliding down her throat. She thrashed away from her unseen attacker. Her lungs burned and she gasped for air. As she slowly became completely conscious, she realized that she wasn’t still underwater.   
She was in another large white room on another bed. This was not new, but it was anything but comforting. Thalia glanced around franticly, trying to locate the prince.  
“Shush, now,” Elaine said. The older woman was standing above her holding a bowl. The expression on her face was pained. “You are safe, Princess. Now, you must drink.”  
Thalia tried to tell Elaine that she didn’t want anything from her, but was interrupted by the need to lean over the edge of the bed. Water and bile spilled onto the floor.  
“Here, dear,” Elaine ran a cool cloth across the back of her neck and forehead. The older woman helped her lean back against the pillows and offered her a cloth to wipe her mouth.   
Thalia took the cloth and flung it against a wall. She wiped her mouth on the corner of the white sheet instead. Elaine sighed, but did not comment. Instead, she picked up a bowl and held it out to her.  
“Its medicine, sweetheart,” The woman said softly, “You hit your head very hard. This will treat the concussion.”   
“I must have a concussion,” Thalia muttered bitterly. Her voice was weak and felt raw, “You sound like a normal person, for once.”  
“Yes,” Elaine responded, and handed Thalia the bowl, “I didn’t want to feel happy anymore. So I took an antidote to my medication.”  
“Oh,” Thalia murmured. She sipped at the liquid tentatively. It wasn’t completely unpleasant. Her stomach slowly stopped churning.  
“The robots make a lovely tonic,” Elaine said. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, “If I take it each morning, I don’t feel sad all day. Not at all. It helps me endure this life. I’ve taken it for so long, though, that it has started the loose its effect. Now I take double the amount the other women do. It can make me…excitable.”  
“Other women…” Thalia handed the empty bowl back to Elaine. “Like Amanda?”  
“Yes,” Elaine looked down at her hands sadly, “Most of the Arktzirax do not mind their mates taking it. They tire of all the screaming and crying we do.” She smiled sadly. “Due to its addictive properties, some Arktzirax only permit their mates a minimal dose. I believe your friend is one of these.”  
That made Amanda’s behavior a little easier to understand. Thalia looked down at her hands and was distracted by the bruises trailing up from her wrists. She pressed her hand to the spreading bruise on her cheek and winced.  
“Will he —Prince Xieol—I mean,” She took a deep breath. “Is he going to beat me again?”  
“Thalia, dear,” Elaine ducked her head and rose from the bed. She placed the bowl on a side table and stared at the wall for a moment. “I—”  
“Never mind,” Thalia said quickly. Elaine turned to look at her in surprise. The older woman had addressed her by her name. She felt that badly for her. That told Thalia all she needed to know.  
“I don’t want the tonic,” She added after a moment of thought. “I don’t want to be happy near him. Being sad, and angry, that’s all I have left. I hate him. I need to feel that. Feeling anything but disgust and hate for him, that would be…”  
“A lie,” Elaine finished. She bit her lip in hesitation, then continued, “And he has forbidden you have it.”  
“Oh,” Was all she could muster. Part of her screamed that he dare forbid her anything, let alone happiness, but the rest of her grew strangely calm. So, he wanted her to scream and cry. He wanted to see the real her, and he thought he had. An image of her crumpled form, bleeding and retching, came unbidden to her mind. She shook her head to clear it.   
Thalia was not a coward. She was more than a half-drowned girl sobbing on the floor. The Prince needed to see who she really was. Now that she knew the type of monster he was, her resolution was firm. He could do whatever he wanted, but he would not break her again. She was stronger than that. Somehow, she would find a way out of this place. Then he would never hit her again.  
The door flew open and Amanda sailed into the room. She flung her arms wide and nearly tackled Thalia to the floor. Thalia found herself knocked sideways on the bed, beneath her friend, and began to panic. She struggled in Amanda’s grasp, the sensation of being touched causing alarms to go off behind her eyes. Sensing her fear, Amanda sat up quickly, and held her at arm’s length  
“Oh!” Her friend cried.  
Thalia could feel eyes on the deepening bruise on her face. She ran a hand across it self-consciously.   
Amanda released her and took a deep breath. Regaining her composure, she helped straighten the injured girl. She moved a safe distance away and sat on the edge of the bed.   
“I’m so sorry,” Amanda said. There were tears in the corners of her eyes. She ran a hand quickly across them and began plucking nervously at the pleats of her dress. When she looked up again, there was a profound sadness in her eyes that Thalia had not seen before. She must have forgone her tonic as well. Amanda reached out to stroke Thalia’s hand, but saw the bruises and let her hand fall uselessly between them.  
“It could have been worse,” Elaine commented quietly. “It isn’t so bad, not really. Do you…do you want to see?” Her nervous hands held out a small mirror.   
It took a moment for Thalia to accept it, and another before she was able to glance into its depths. Part of her was terrified that she would still look Arktzirax. That she would never be the same as she had been before.   
Her reflection was startling. Her dark hair was a tangled mess, but Thalia was relieved to see it returned to its natural color. It was almost surprising that there weren’t large chunks missing. Her scalp still stung, but that would heal. There was a large purple bruise spreading across her right cheek, and her nose was swollen. Her fingers tested it, and she yelped in pain.   
Elaine quickly assured her that the doctor—who had seen her while she was unconscious—had not thought her nose was broken. It too would heal. Her lip was badly split, and her mouth tasted metallic.   
Elaine shooed her hand from her face. She was instructed to “let it heal”.   
“You’ll be good as new, right as rain,” The older woman said, but with a decided lack of feeling.  
Thalia felt like she was supposed to be happy about that, but couldn’t muster a positive emotion. She couldn’t fathom being happy ever again. Tonic or no. Amanda seemed to read her thoughts.  
“Oh,” Amanda tried to sound encouraging, but wouldn’t meet her gaze. “The first night is always so rough. They don’t realize how much weaker we are than them. Give him some time, and he will learn—”  
“Night?” Thalia asked.  
“The Princess was here, asleep, all night,” Elaine said carefully as she applied a foul smelling cream to Thalia’s damaged lip. “So that she could be treated for her injuries. It was by order of His Highness.”  
“I don’t understand.” Amanda glanced between the two women. “If he didn’t mate with you—What happened?”   
Imagines flashed through Thalia’s mind unbidden. His angry face, glowing red, through the ripples of the water, and the bubbles rushing toward the surface as she tried to gasp—  
Thalia wanted to bury herself in Amanda’s arms and sob, but she had spent enough time crying. She took a deep breath and felt inside her for the anger, the outrage she felt. Hatred bubbled up and she felt her face flush with it. Her eyes dried as she let her fury consume her.  
“He hit me,” Thalia snapped. “He threw me into a fountain. He almost drowned me. It wasn’t an accident.”  
Amanda’s eyes were wide.  
“How I looked—It made him angry.” She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. Her wrists were such a deep purple, they were almost black. “So he beat me and sent me away.”  
Amanda covered a gasp with one of her delicate hands.   
“Did he reject you?” Amanda asked, appalled, “Are you being sent back to the ship?”  
“No,” Elaine answered. “His Highness ordered her returned to him as soon as she regained consciousness. We are probably delaying longer than we should.”  
Amanda grasped at Thalia’s hands, but she was shaken off. Thalia rose unsteadily to her feet.   
“I won’t be returned to him,” She seethed, “I am a person, not a piece of fabric!”  
“Not on this planet, Princess,” Elaine said sadly, but firmly, “Not in this galaxy, or any of the others that the Arktzirax Empire controls. You are his vessel, for his use, by law.”  
“I will go.” Thalia snapped at the older woman, “But I will not be returned. He should see the fruits of his efforts.”  
She glanced in the hand mirror once more and handed it back to Elaine.  
The door opened immediately when she knocked. Two gearmen stood outside, ready to escort her.   
“Wait,” Amanda called. “Please, we can stall a few more moments!”  
Thalia could hear that her friend was crying again, but could not let herself care. She had to stay angry, or she risked losing her courage. She nodded at the gearmen and they took up their positions. One behind her, one before her. Thalia felt like the meat in a sandwich.   
“You are still in your nightgown, Your Highness,” The gearman behind her said.   
Thalia stumbled slightly, hearing her new title. He quickly steadied her by gripping her arm. Again, the cold of his hand felt pleasant. It was grounding. She wondered why she had ever felt repulsed by the gearmen. They were so predictable. She had nothing to fear from them.  
“I know,” She responded after a moment. Although, she truly hadn’t spared a thought about her clothing. “He should see me—like this. He should see the consequences of his actions.”   
She gestured vaguely toward her face and body. It was unclear whether the gearman understood. She was simply met with a chorus of “Yes, Princess.”  
They walked in silence for a long time. The entire building seemed comprised of twisting white hallways with white doors. Aside from the odd gearman, they saw no one.  
Thalia’s feet were cold, and had begun to ache. It probably had not been the best decision to leave without shoes. She could have paused long enough to find a pair, certainly, without losing her nerve. Then again, maybe not. Her courage seemed thin and wispy about her. She feared any pause in forward momentum might cause it to crumble away for good.   
She was just about to ask a gearman about possible footwear, when they abruptly turned a corner. Thalia’s feet touched an unfamiliar surface. It felt rough on her skin, so much different than the smooth marble she was used to. She pressed a hand against the wall and found that it, too, was coarse. The bumpy material was a dark grey with small flecks of black.   
The hall the stretched before them was made entirely from this strange substance, and it was eerily dark. The sterile bright lights she was used to had been replaced by floating globes every few yards. A flickering, unsteady light emanated from the globes, casting ever changing shadows about the hall. There was a strange smell to this new hall as well, like a dress she had put away damp. It smelt of mildew and disuse. A small shiver crept down her spine.  
Another turn brought them to the bottom of a staircase. The grey stone steps spiraled upwards for what seemed an eternity. They ascended slowly, the gearman behind her bracing her arm in case she were to stumble. The steps were incredibly steep. Thalia trailed a hand along the gritty stone of the wall as she followed the spiraling staircase upwards.   
A brilliant flash of green caught her eye. She pushed against the gearman before her and stumbled when the robot behind her failed to relinquish his grip.   
“Let go!” She demanded. They quickly complied. Thalia stumbled up the stairs as quickly as she dared and slipped her fingers into a slit set between the large grey stones that made up the wall.   
It was a small slit, less than an inch in width, but through it she could just make out a single spot of brilliant green. And blue! Such a wide, vivid swath of blue!  
“A window,” She breathed, disbelieving.  
“An arrow slit, Princess,” A gearman corrected, “This tower is part of the old citadel, which one of Prince Xieol’s Great-Grandfathers decided to preserve. The stones have been reset and strengthened, but the historical integrity has been maintained.”  
“That’s outside,” Thalia pressed her face to the arrow slit. The stone of the wall was cold on her cheek.   
“The arrow slits serve the purpose of allowing fresh air into the tower.” The gearman continued, “Although, lasers have been installed to prevent insects from gaining entrance into the citadel.”  
At the mention of lasers, Thalia snapped her face back. She sat on the step and closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh air. It smelt incredible, like nothing she had ever experienced before.   
“The windows in the tower have the same feature, Princess.” The gearman said, “Humans have a psychologically engrained fear of insects, so previous Princes have taken steps to prevent—”  
“Windows?” Thalia’s eyes snapped open, and she jumped to her feet, “Show me!”  
“Yes, Princess,” They chorused.   
The group resumed their trek up the stairs. It went much quicker now that Thalia was motivated to reach the top. Soon the winding staircase ended at a large white door. It seemed extremely out-of-place next to the raw glory of the grey stone, and the white seemed almost painfully bright in the natural sunlight streaming through the arrow slits.  
She hated it. It was completely out of place in the tower and broke whatever spell had been wrapping around her. It stood as a stark reminder of her present circumstances.  
The gearman entered a code on a small keypad set into the wall and the door swung open. Behind it was a second door, this one was a dark brown and looked extremely heavy. Thalia ran her hand over it wonderingly. It was coarse, but almost soft in some way. She ran her fingernail along the grain experimentally was surprised when pieces flaked off.  
“Wood, Princess,” The gearman said, “Made from trees.”  
A golden key was produced and soon the brown door swung inwards. Thalia stepped through the threshold and into a circular stone chamber. Soft, sheer cloth had been hung from the rafters. It draped down to the center of the room. Through it, Thalia could see a circular white bed. She adverted her eyes quickly.  
And there, in the far corner of the room, was a window. It was five feet wide and rose from just above a cushioned bench up to the ceiling.   
Thalia ran to it. She climbed up onto the bench and leaned out into the morning sunshine. The world outside was not exactly what she had expected. She had assumed the citadel was the center of some city. There had certainly been enough people in the ceremonial chamber to suggest that. Judging by the landscape stretching out before her, those people had been brought in from somewhere else.   
Below her stretched a dark lake. The tower itself seemed to rise up out of the water. A cold morning mist swirled about and clung to the stone of the tower, making it difficult to guess the exact distance to the water’s surface. Sweat beaded on her skin at the thought of such a dizzying drop. It would most likely prove fatal.   
As she watched, a small space craft came into view below her. Thalia watched the silent craft as it banked around the tower. The bright sun danced across the silver body of the ship, glass panes near the front sparkled in the light. She was just close enough that she thought she could almost make out the shadows of creatures moving behind the glass. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the craft had rounded the tower and vanished out of sight.   
The tower appeared to be located in the back of the citadel, facing out away from the center of the building. Thalia was at once grateful and annoyed with the isolation. She wanted to know more about where she was and was at the same time afraid to discover more details.   
With a sigh, she settled down into the bench. The window was not going to provide a means of escape unless she sprouted wings. Still, she could at least enjoy the view.  
Off in the distance, she could make out a sea of tall trees clustered tightly together. The tower rose high enough that it afforded her a view of their green tops raised like spears poking at the sky. To even be visible from this distance and height, they themselves had to be magnificent. She couldn’t fathom the sheer height of such things. Was it true that they were really alive? The education the gearmen had provided gave her a basic understanding of such things, but she found it hard to match the images she had been shown with the real thing. If only she could get closer---  
“I wouldn’t do that,” Prince Xieol’s voice was so deep, it was almost a growl. His heavy hand landed on her shoulder and jerked her back from the window. Luckily, her breath caught in her throat. If it hadn’t, she may have screamed. Xieol moved far too quietly for a creature his size.   
“Any further out that window and you would have triggered the electronic fencing.” He suddenly grasped her face in one giant hand, turning it slowly and inspecting the bruise rising on her cheek. “Even you can’t be stupid enough to electrocute yourself for attention.”  
“Attention?” She sputtered, “For attention—”  
“What is this?” He was still staring at her face as if she hadn’t spoken. Anger overrode her fear slightly and Thalia tried to free herself from his grasp. His hand easily kept its firm grip on her face. He didn’t seem to notice her struggle. Still expecting an answer, Xieol tapped on her bruised cheek with one thick finger. Thalia winced and sucked in a breath  
“Its blood,” Her voice came out through clenched teeth.   
“Lies,” His black eyes glared down at her. Red, black and grey started to swirl across his chest. He barked an order towards the door in some strange language, then glared back down at her. “You will not lie to me.”  
A gearman appeared in the doorway and inclined his head to the Prince.   
“What is this?” Xieol demanded. He jerked Thalia’s head sideways so that the gearman could get a good look at her face. The motion caused Thalia to lose her precarious balance. Her body slid up against Xieol’s as he drug her by the face. She shuddered.  
“A bruise, Your Highness,” The gearman chirped. “A pooling of the blood below the skin. This is caused when a human suffers enough trauma to break blood vessels, but not enough to break the skin.”  
“Not enough?” Xieol returned darkly, but when he looked down at Thalia his face was thoughtful. “I like this bruise. The colors…” He trailed off as he released her face and stood.   
Thalia slumped and let the strong gravity pull her down onto the bench. She took a deep breath and tried to look at anything but the large white knees much too close to her face.   
“Come here,” Xieol commanded suddenly.   
Thalia flinched, but otherwise remained still. She was already so close to him. His large body loomed over her. His tone brooked no argument, but she didn’t understand— and then she heard it.   
A metallic whirring was becoming louder in the room as the gearman, ever faithful, approached the prince. The gearman walked right up to the large creature. He came so close that Thalia could hear the clicking of his metal skeleton beneath his glass case.  
“Show the Princess why she should stay away from the window,”   
There was a split second of silence, and then Xieol grabbed the gearman by one arm and tossed him out the window. The gearman flew directly over Thalia, and she dove back down onto the bench to avoid being hit by the robotic body.   
A terrible crackling noise burst through the room when the gearman passed over the window sill. Violent sparks of light erupted around his body. Thalia screamed and buried her face into the hard bench to avoid being hit by the sparks raining down on her. The gearman hit some form of invisible barrier and his body was tossed back into the room. He landed, smoking, half way to the door with a large crash. Slowly, the sparks and fizzles of energy died off.   
Thalia stared at the smoking corpse, disbelieving.   
“Do not attempt to escape,” Xieol said firmly. He had stepped to the side to avoid being hit by the gearman, but was now looming over her again. “You will stay in this room until we successfully produce an heir. I will not tolerate any more human weakness. You are the princess of the empire. You will act accordingly or I will chain you up like cattle. It is up to you.”  
“Why did you kill him?” Thalia’s eyes were still locked on the blackened body of the gearman. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”  
“The Assistant?” Xieol asked, clearly annoyed. Hints of black spread across his chest. “You little idiot. They are machines. In the time it took me to break this one, a hundred more have been created. Not that it matters.”   
She finally drug her eyes away from the damaged gearman. She knew she was being stupid. Of course, it was a robot. Thalia knew that. But, still, the gearmen had never hurt her. They were just doing what they had been told to do. That was a small matter at the moment, though, and not the one she should be focusing on. Hadn’t he mentioned chains?  
“Your species is said to require companionship,” Xieol mused. He glanced over at the smoking gearman. “Small minds enjoy small pleasures. Go ahead and make friends with the furniture while you’re at it.”  
Thalia started to reply, but was cut off when he turned back to her. She couldn’t read his expression. Colors were popping and fizzing across his body as he loomed over her. Suddenly, his face was much too near hers. Thalia started to right herself and scramble backwards on the bench, but he halted her with a firm grip on her waist.   
“Do not move,” Xieol ordered. He was so close that she felt his warm breath hitting her face. Thalia tried to turn away, but his other hand was suddenly locked on her chin.   
“Do not move!” He screamed directly into her face and Thalia slammed her eyes shut with a whimper.   
Suddenly his lips were on hers. They were hard, demanding. Again, Thalia tried to struggle but his hands wouldn’t budge. In retaliation, Xieol pressed harder. The kiss was harsh. Thalia felt her skin splitting against her teeth. Blood filled her mouth with the taste of metal. Panic rose in her chest. He was pressing her against his chest so hard that she couldn’t breathe. Her lungs screamed for air. She was instantly far more terrified of suffocating than she was of him. Desperate, she raked her fingernails across the skin of his cheek.  
Xieol pulled back just far enough to slam the back of his hand against her unblemished cheek. The force of the blow snapped her head to the side and sent her tumbling off the bench. Xieol stepped back and let her fall. Thalia sucked in a breath as her body hit the floor. Before she could think of escaping, Xieol followed her down. His large body pinned her to the floor. Her vision was blurred with tears and pain, but she could see his three tentacles emerge from his scalp.   
“You will obey,” Xieol’s black lips were pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. His lips returned to hers and he balled her hair into one of his fists. With his crushing weight pressing into her, she had no hope of getting away.  
The terror became so much that Thalia felt strangely detached from the situation. She found herself wondering about things that shouldn’t have mattered just then. What did a humanoid need with tentacles? Thalia struggled to remember what she had learned about sea animals from the gearmen. They were used to move, to fight, to…taste?  
The touch of Xieol’s tentacles gliding across her face soared to the forefront of Thalia’s mind. Somehow her mouth found its way open, and she was screaming against Xieol’s lips. Instead of pulling back, the prince pressed forward. His tongue snaked into her mouth.   
Thalia began struggling in earnest, bucking beneath him and thrashing. She brought her teeth down as hard as she could on his tongue, but it didn’t have any apparent effect. Xieol seemed more egged on than anything. He simply pressed her harder into the floor, his hand twisted in her hair until she thought he would wrench her scalp free. Thalia kept screaming against him, half choking on his tongue.   
A series of loud noises slowly broke through her terror. Xieol seemed to eventually hear them as well. He released her lips with a growl and glared towards the door. He barked something in a language she didn’t understand as she cowered beneath him.  
The door opened and two gearmen stepped into the room.   
“Guardsman Cruft,” They announced in their happy voices.   
A large Arktzirax man, nearly the size of Xieol, roughly pushed passed the gearmen. His black eyes swept across the room, including the couple on the floor, but he didn’t comment. If he was surprised, he hid it well.   
“His Majesty requires your presence, immediately, Your Highness,” Cruft announced in a deep, gravelly voice.   
“And he sent you?” Xieol responded, his tone too light for the situation. He pulled himself up and sat back on his ankles with a short laugh.   
Freed, Thalia scrambled away from him until her back hit the wall. She glanced around, but there was nothing to hide behind. The only object in the room was the large circular bed. She was definitely not going near that.   
Xieol didn’t seem to notice her. He was deep in discussion with the Guardsman. They had switched the conversation into what Thalia assumed was their native tongue. They must have guessed she did not understand it.   
Despite everything, Xieol did not appear to mind the interruption in the least. He was even smiling at the other man. Thalia was shocked to hear him release a few deep barks of laughter. The men spoke for a couple more minutes before Xieol finally sighed and rose to his feet. Guardsman Cruft stepped out into the stairwell to allow Xieol to pass, which he did. It was almost with an afterthought that Xieol stuck his head back into the room.  
“Do not do anything stupid,” Xieol commanded her, using her language once more. “Thruk would not like losing his mate.”  
With that, he was gone.   
The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Thalia alone with the two gearmen. They stared at her in silence. Thalia remained where she was for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened.   
“Did he…”Thalia started, but her voice was hoarse and she had to pause to cough, “Did he mean Amanda?”   
“His Highness’s comment was most likely a threat against Lady Amanda,” A gearman responded cheerily.  
“To ensure your good behavior, Princess.” The other robot finished.   
“He can’t hurt her!” Thalia said, struggling to her feet. A gearman approached to assist her, but she waved him away. “Only Thruk can touch her! That’s the rule, right? Right?”  
“General Thruk is obligated to obey His Highness’s command, even if that order is in direct violation of the law.” The gearman said.  
“He could order Thruk to kill her?” Thalia responded, shocked.   
“His Highness may command anything,” the gearman said simply.


	7. Purpose

Although the tower was in the old section of the citadel, it proved to have some modern advances.   
A gearman approached the curved stone wall and pressed a small digital key to the stone. With a sharp click, the stone retracted into itself, revealing a doorway. Thalia approached and looked into the small bathroom in surprise.  
The room was obviously newer than most of the tower. The walls, floor and ceiling were the same bright sterile white that much of the main citadel had been. Inside there was nothing but a silver sink, toilet, shower stall and one small mirror hanging on the wall. The small room seemed to be an afterthought. It seemed too clinical and cold to belong in the tower. As much as she did not want to like anything Xieol gave her— especially her prison— Thalia had to admit that she preferred the stone and wood of the tower to the smooth white walls of the rest of the citadel.   
As soon as Thalia stepped into the bathroom, the door slid closed behind her. She glanced back at it and noticed that on this side, the door was the same smooth white as the rest of the room. Thalia felt like she had stepped back onto a spaceship. It was not a welcome feeling.  
Thalia stepped over to the sink and glanced into the mirror. More bruises were rising across her body. Angry, she turned the water on as hot as it would go and scrubbed at her skin. She scratched at her cheeks, trying to feel anything but the ghost of Xieol’s lips and tentacles. The water in the sink slowly turned red.   
Thalia ripped her hands away from her face and was shocked to see blood coating her fingernails. She glanced up briefly and saw the damage she had done to her face. Her lip twitched up slightly as she surveyed the harm she had done.   
Her fingernails had gouged into her cheeks. Drops of blood slid down from a few of the deeper wounds. With a wet hand, Thalia smeared the blood across her cheeks. The rising bruises were obscured almost completely. Thalia was surprised when her teeth flashed white in the mirror. She wiped her bloody hands on the white fabric of her nightgown and admired how the thick liquid stained it.   
After scrubbing her hands clean, she cupped them under the tap and brought the cool water to her mouth. She shuddered as she swished the liquid around, remembering the foul taste of his mouth. The way his tongue had moved against hers, slithering like a serpent. Thalia spat into the sink as she gagged on the memory.   
She pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror and took a few calming breaths, forcing down a sudden wave of nausea. Digging at herself was not going to help. Neither was crying or throwing up. Not that there was much in her stomach anyway. If she was going to have to face him again, she needed to get a grip.  
Thalia stripped off her nightgown and left it balled up on the floor. She turned on the water in the shower stall and stepped into the frigid spray without giving it time to warm. She shuddered and bit her lip against the cold, but forced herself to endure it. The cold had a numbing effect. It felt almost good against her bruised body, although it stung the new scratches on her face. She felt detached as she watched the water flow down her legs and circle the drain. It was tinted red.   
Once the water had run clear again, and was starting to warm, Thalia shut it off. She glanced back out into the bathroom, unsure. There were no cabinets or other obvious place towels could be stored. She stood in the shower stall a second longer, considering her options. Her nightgown was still balled up on the floor, but suddenly the bloodied garment seemed very unappealing.   
A faint hum sounded. Suddenly small puffs of warm air came from all sides of the shower stall, sending gooseflesh racing down her arms. She crossed her arms across her chest self-consciously, and eyed the walls of the shower. There was no obvious place that the air was coming from. It seemed to simply appear out of the shower walls. Some high-tech convenience for the princess. Thalia snorted.   
As soon as she was dry, Thalia left the stall and padded over to where the entrance to the bathroom should have been. To her it looked like just another expanse of solid white wall. Experimentally, she tapped at it. To her shock, the wall slid into itself with a snap and she was looking out into the bedroom again. A door had never operated for her before.   
On the Quarantine Ship, the doors had opened and closed either of their own accord or at the Gearmen’s behest. Thalia had never thought to try any of the doors in the citadel. A small feeling of power flitted through her. This was a small thing, but it was something that she had control over. There wasn’t much she had command of.   
Two gearmen, Assistants the Prince had called them, were waiting for her in the bedroom. The body of the electrocuted gearman was gone without a trace. One of the mechanical assistants stepped forward and began wrapping her in another complicated white garment. The other looked at her for a second, then approached and began treating the scratches on her face with a stinky balm. Apparently, they had been aware of her activities in the bathroom. Yet, they had not intervened. Interesting.   
“How did you know I was injured?” She asked, curious, as the gearman finished dressing her and stepped back. The other gearman—assistant—began placing small bandages over the deeper gouges on her cheeks.   
“We monitor you, Your Highness.” The assistant answered as he moved on from her face and started massaging the same cream into some of her darker bruises. Thalia winced.   
“You watch me in case I, what, try to escape?” She smiled sadly, “Even I know that isn’t an option.”  
“Others have tried,” The gearman responded cheerily, “But, no, we monitor you in order to learn from your behaviors. This way we can be better prepared to assist you in the future. Anticipate your wants and your needs, Your Highness.”  
“Speaking of which,” The other gearman had returned. He grasped her hand and held her palm up towards the light, examining it. Thalia knew he was looking at the small red half-circles her fingernails had left in her palms. “We should consider taking preventive measures here.”   
Both gearmen had ahold of one of her hands now. They turned them about thoughtfully as they spoke.  
“The fingernails may be removed to prevent further injury,” The first mused, “Or perhaps sanded back so as not to pose a threat?”  
“Yes,” The other gearman agreed, “Or the tips of the fingers could be wrapped, and padded, to prevent injury. Removal may be the best option, however. If I may, Your Highness?” Without waiting for a response, he reached out and felt along one of the bandaged gouges on Thalia’s cheek.   
“No!” Thalia snatched her hands back and crossed her arms. She tucked her hands in her armpits, hiding them from view. She backed away from the gearmen. They were talking about mutilating her hands! She eyed the distance between her and the door. Too far, she decided. They would catch her if she tried to run. Then what? She did not even know if the bedroom door would open for her. Knowing her new husband, it most likely wouldn’t.  
“Your heartrate has increased, Your Highness.” A gearman noted. His fellow agreed. “You are afraid. We would not cause you pain. We seek to prevent further injury to your body. If you habitually touch your face and palms with such force, removal of your fingernails will allow you to do so without injury.”  
She stared at them blankly. They thought it was accidental. They honestly thought she was that stupid. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe this was something she could use.   
“I’m afraid…” She agreed slowly, and glanced around quickly. Her eyes caught on the window. “When Xieol” She spat his name like acid, “When he threw one of you out the window— there were…sparks. Electricity? Is it going to hurt me?” She tried her best to look wide-eyed and afraid when she glanced back at them.  
“The electronic netting prevents both entrance and egress to the citadel by way of the window,” One of them responded. “It will not harm you so long as you remain within the tower.”  
“But…” Thalia’s brain whirled. She couldn’t just ask them how to escape. Could she? “What if I fell out… accidently?”   
“The odds are quite low,” The Assistant responded, “However…” The two exchanged glances.   
“Given Your Highness’s capacity for sustaining injury to her person, perhaps it would be best to mitigate the risk.” She must have looked quite confused, for he elaborated, “By lessening either the chances of Your Highness encountering the netting, or by attempting to lessen the impact of the netting on Your Highness’s well-being if you were to come into contact.”  
“The most effective method would be to seal the window, thus preventing Her Highness from ever encountering the netting.”  
“No!” Thalia gasped once their meaning sunk in. “No, no, no! Don’t close it! Please!”  
“Your heart rate has accelerated again,” The first Assistant noted. “It appears the thought of an enclosed space is alarming to Your Highness.”  
“Claustrophobia,” His counterpart added, seeming pleased, “This is quite ordinary for humans. The window was put into place to alleviate this particular condition. The human mind is able to feel less contained so long as the eyes can see the outside of the room. A strange phenomenon, as the window does not in fact make the human less captive, only more accepting of it.”  
“More accepting,” Thalia repeated, face grim. “What about making the netting less dangerous…or removing it?”  
“Removal is not an option,” They spoke in a happy unison, “It is a safety precaution, after all. However, the electrical current might be decreased slightly. This would require authorization.”  
“Xieol,” Thalia clenched her teeth and stared at the wall. He would see the beginnings of an escape plan in her request immediately. The Prince would be angry, and he would take it out on Amanda. She could not do anything to alert him to any possible plans. The risk was too great.   
Thalia turned back to the assistants with a sigh.   
“So, what am I supposed to do? Just stay here until His High and Mightiness feels like coming back?” Although the cream on her face had eased the bruising, and her scratches no longer stung, Thalia’s body still felt battered. A headache throbbed behind her eyes. She did not know if she could bare facing him again. After a quick glance around the small, octagonal room, she understood how quickly claustrophobia might set in without that window.   
Anxiety began to wrap its fingers around her lungs, but she bit her lip and pushed it back. She did not want to be a princess, but it seemed she had no choice in the matter. So a princess she would be.   
“I wish to leave,” She said the words as calmly as she could. Before the assistants could respond, she walked toward the wooden door that led to the stairs with her back straight and her head held high. One step, and then another. Before she knew it, she reached her hand out to the strange woodgrain of the door. Her nerves buzzed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she tried to anticipate the assistants’ movements behind her. She waited to feel their hands on her arms, prepared to fight back.  
When the room remained silent and still, she reached out and placed her bandaged palm on the handle. After a second of hesitation, she pressed the handle down.  
It did not open.   
A key pad above the handle blinked red. Angry, Thalia jammed her fingers into a random set of keys. More red blinking. Furious, she pressed the flat of her palm against the keys hard and held them compressed as alarmed beeping noises began issuing from behind the door. Small red warning lights began to blink throughout the room.   
Thalia felt a cold hand close over her elbow, but jerked herself away.   
“No!” She told the assistant as she ripped her hand from the keypad and placed her shoulder against the door. “I am the Princess and I. Am. Leaving.”  
Shove as she might, the door did not budge. Finally, she pushed herself back from the door with a huff. Glaring at the assistants, she pointed towards the door and demanded that they open it.  
“We were instructed that your Highness stay in the tower.” They responded, pleasant as ever.  
“And I am instructing you to open that door now!” She demanded, voice deathly earnest. “Ordering you, commanding you, whatever!”   
She bit her lip and stared them down. They looked right back at her, unmoving.   
“Please,” she whispered after a moment of silence, “assist me.”  
“We cannot disobey a direct order, Your Highness,” They responded happily, “How may we assist you within the walls of the tower?”  
Suddenly the rage, the hope and even the pain of her wounds disappeared. Thalia felt herself deflate like a balloon. With her gaze on the floor, she crossed the room and lowered herself onto the window seat. She drew her feet up and placed her chin on her knees.   
“How may I assist you, Your Highness?” An assistant asked pleasantly as he crossed the room to stand at attention before her. His counterpart remained by the door.   
“I don’t know,” She responded blankly, face buried in the white material bunching over her knees. “I’m scared, and I’m trapped. And I’m alone.”   
Life on the quarantine ship had not been bliss, but it had never been lonely. Thalia was suddenly homesick for the slick white walls of the cafeteria, always echoing with laughter. For the easy routine she followed each day, as much as she despised it at the time. She suddenly missed not knowing exactly what her future was. She missed wondering what her greater purpose was. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that she would be locked away to breed a new generation of monsters. Now that she knew her purpose, it sickened her. The future had been poisoned, corrupted. It was no longer a place she could escape to in her mind. Xieol had taken that from her.  
“I want Amanda,” She muttered, without thinking.   
“Lady Amanda has been sent for,” The assistant responded immediately, causing Thalia to start.   
“When? Already? How..?” She looked at the assistant in wonder. She expected him to produce a comm-radio or to send the other assistant to take a message, but instead he simply stood there and stared back at her. Then the shock of her request being granted hit her. “T-thank you.”  
“It is unnecessary to thank me, Your Highness,” He responded happily, “We are entrusted to ensure your health and happiness within the parameters set by His Highness the Prince.”  
So the Assistants were allowed to grant her requests, so long as they did not contradict Xieol’s direct commands. Interesting. It suddenly occurred to her that the assistants had become much more helpful once her status changed. Her new rank undoubtedly allowed her access to requests that would have been previously denied. Besides being more helpful, her current assistants seemed almost more human. It was as if their IQ had been given a boost.   
“Are you very different from the… Assistants on the Quarantine Ship?” She asked, lying her cheek on her knees so that she could look up into his face. Now that she was paying attention, she could pick out subtle differences between the palace Assistants and those on the Quarantine Ship.   
The clear casing that made up the Assistant’s skin seemed slightly more fluid, and less clunky, than those she was familiar with. It seemed to almost move with the motion of the machine’s limbs like true skin, as opposed to being a hard shell. The metal rods and gears that made up the skeleton and inner workings of the Assistant were a shining gold. They seemed bright and well-oiled. Unless she was specifically listening for it, Thalia did not notice any clicking or whirring coming from the Assistant. He could almost be a true living being.   
“Palace Assistant Androids are all of the latest model,” The Assistant explained. Thalia could almost swear that he was bragging, “Our mechanisms are of the highest quality available. No expense is spared in either our manufacturing or our maintenance. We are manufactured with our purpose in mind. The Assistant Androids that educate and care for potential vessels are made of lesser quality materials and less effort goes into their programming. Regardless, we are all synched to the same Mind.”  
“You will find,” The Assistant near the door spoke suddenly, “that what we are depends greatly upon our purpose, and that our purpose depends greatly upon what we are.”  
With that, he opened the door and Amanda flew into the room. The other girl dashed across the circular chamber and collapsed into Thalia’s arms. Her chest was heaving as she sucked in air. She had clearly sprinted up the tower stairs. Thalia heard the chamber door close again with a thud.  
“They…” Amanda started, but had to stop to catch her breath. “They said…”  
Thalia shushed her friend and ran her hands over her blonde hair, attempting to soothe her. It was such a familiar gesture, and brought back so many memories from the Quarantine Ship that for a moment Thalia’s eyes misted over. With a frustrated wave of her hand, Thalia banished both the memories and the tears. She pressed Amanda back by the shoulders until the other girl was more properly seated on the window seat and looked into her face.  
“I’m fine,” Thalia said. She saw Amanda run skeptical eyes over her bruised and bandaged face. Suddenly slight uncomfortable, Thalia bit her damaged lip and repeated, “I’m fine.”  
“Okay…” Amanda looked very unsure. She reached out and took one of Thalia’s damaged hands. “Because they said—”  
“I don’t care what anyone said.” She returned with as much certainty as she could muster. “I’m not talking about what happened. I don’t care about it. We are not going to sit here and cry, Abby. We need a plan.”  
“A plan?” Her friend returned blankly. She slowly pulled her hands away from Thalia’s and sat back, blue eyes wide.  
“Yes, a plan,” Thalia leaned in closer and looked into Amanda’s eyes, as if she could see the Assistants’ tonic at work, “Are you drugged, Amanda? We need to get out of here. We need to escape—”  
“Stop!” Amanda’s hand was suddenly clamped over Thalia’s mouth. Her other hand cupped the back of Thalia’s head and pulled her in so that she could speak directly into her ear, “You can’t talk like this,” She whispered, “Not here and not with them,”  
Amanda nodded meaningfully toward the Assistant droids standing passively by the door. Thalia pulled away from her friend, disentangling her hand from Amanda’s grasping hands.   
“The Assistants?” She asked, failing to whisper, “I know we were scared of them, Amanda, but they really just want to help. Somehow my rank means I can ask more of them now. They will help me if they can…”  
Amanda was already shaking her head.   
“Trust me,” She said in a lowered voice, her eyes still on the Assistants, “that is what they want you to think. Every robot in this citadel reports directly to the King. They all share one mind, Thalia. What one knows, they all know.”   
Realization hit Thalia like a bucket of water. “They’re spies,” She whispered.  
It made suddenly made sense. As soon as Xieol had noticed her affinity for the Assistants, they had become more helpful. He had even told her to make friends with them, and they had suddenly become almost friendly. Every question she asked them was being reported to him, or to his father. The Arktzirax had never chanced leaving her alone without a robotic chaperone. And, yet, when she had seen Xieol kill them, she had felt such pity for them. Even comradery. Was it all a trick?  
“I’m so stupid,” She whispered, and would have put her head in her hands but the sight of her bandaged wrists stopped her. Bile rose in her throat. Humans were so weak. She was weak. Xieol had hardly touched her yet and almost her entire body was damaged in some way. There did not seem to be a way to survive this. And suddenly all her vague escape plans were drying up.   
“Leave us,” Amanda’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.  
“Our apologies, Lady Amanda, but that goes against our instructions.” An Assistant responded.  
“Get out,” Thalia said, but her voice was weak. Still, she had to try. It was no surprise when her request was politely declined as well.   
“Then come here,” Amanda said suddenly. Thalia glanced at her, confused, but her friend’s face was a mask of determination. “Both of you.”  
Both Assistants consented happily and came to stand before Amanda, who had climbed to her feet. Thalia looked up at her friend in wonder as she instructed the droids to turn around. Again, both Assistants were more than happy to comply.   
Amanda brought her hand quickly to the back of the Assistant’s neck. Thalia saw something flash in her friend’s hand, and heard a small metallic click, before Amanda spoke again.   
“We are going to take a nap now. You will stand by the wall and make sure nothing bothers us.” Amanda was speaking to the back of the Assistant’s head while she quickly fiddled with something at the base of his neck.   
“Y-Yes, Your….” The Assistant’s voice was slurred, and his steps were faltering. He slowly walked to the other side of the chamber and stood facing the wall. Thalia could just make out the glint of something metal protruding from the clear casing of his neck. She turned to ask Amanda what was happening, but the other girl was already hard at work on the other Assistant.   
Amanda had opened a small hatch in the clear casing of the second robot’s neck. A bead of sweat ran down her temple and slid off her chin. With trembling fingers, she picked away at some inner-workings of the robot with a tiny metallic sliver. Thalia had no idea where it had come from, and was frightened to ask. She had never seen Amanda focused like this. Her friend was working as quickly as she could, her fingers white with their grip on that small metal tool.  
Then there was a small click, and with a relieved sigh, Amanda slid the entirety of the instrument into the Assistant’s exposed spine. She flicked the small hatch closed and sat back on the bench with her eyes closed in relief and exhaustion.   
“What—” Thalia started, but was cut off by a raised hand from her friend.   
They sat together in silence for a moment, and Thalia watched her friend’s strained face in growing concern. Questions buzzed behind her lips, but she kept them quiet. After a few more seconds, Amanda smiled.  
“No sirens,” She said as she opened her eyes, “I must have done it right. At least, I hope I did...”  
Despite her doubt, Amanda looked triumphant as she rose to her feet and gestured for Thalia to follow. As the two girls walked to the door, the Assistant Amanda had tampered with the most followed. The other Assistant stood obediently staring at the wall.   
“Open the door,” Amanda instructed. Her voice was confident, but Thalia could see a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. This was a crucial moment for her.   
“Yes, Your Ma—”  
“Don’t talk.” Amanda cut in abruptly. Her big blue eyes flicked from the robot to Thalia nervously.   
The Assistant crossed the room without another word. He efficiently disarmed the wooden door and unlocked it. As soon as it swung inward, he placed his palm on the solid white wall beyond. A portion of the wall slid back with a click. The robot stood back obediently to allow them to pass.  
Thalia would have spoken, but a sharp look from her friend silenced her. When Amanda rose and walked towards the door, Thalia was close behind. The Assistant followed meekly, keeping an exact ten paces behind. He did not speak again. His companion stayed behind, staring at the wall as instructed. As they began down the stairs, Amanda picked up her pace.  
“Where are we—” Thalia started, but Amanda spun and slammed a hand over her mouth.  
“Quietly.” Her friend whispered. “He’s disconnected from the hive mind, but every other robot in the Citadel is working just fine. The Assistant upstairs will keep reporting that we are napping. We have to either get out or get back before someone goes to check.”  
As they hurried down the stairs, Thalia managed to get a few whispered questions answered. Amanda had manually overridden the Assistants, and not in a way that could be reversed. The Assistants were irreparably damaged, and there was an immediate danger that someone would notice before the girls were far enough away. If they did not manage to escape, they would need to destroy these Assistants to cover their tracks. It was a risk to leave them behind, but Amanda could not think of an alternative. It would be suspicious if both Assistants suddenly stopped reporting.   
They hit the main floor and continued their flight through the mazes of endless white halls. Both girls dropped their voices even lower, aware that the further from the tower that they ventured, the higher the risk of discovery.   
“But,” Thalia whispered so quietly she wasn’t sure her friend would hear, “How did you know how to do that? Why didn’t you do it before?”  
There was a long pause as they cautiously turned a corner. Upon finding the next corridor empty, they picked up speed again. Never flat out running, that would be far too suspicious, but they walked quickly enough to build a sweat. Just as Thalia was about to repeat her question, Amanda finally answered.  
“I’ve never done it before,” She whispered without looking back. “But I’ve seen Thruk do it. When he doesn’t want anyone to overhear him, or when he wants to spy. It’s extremely illegal. He told me that if he was caught, or if I told anyone, the King would execute us both.”  
Amanda glanced back at the trailing Assistant quickly and lowered her voice even further. Thalia had to arch her neck over her friend’s shoulder to hear.  
“Right now,” Amanda’s voice was barely audible, “That robot thinks I’m the King. No access will be refused, and he will tell me anything. Plus, the King’s actions are confidential. Nothing he does is reported back to the Mind. Still, it’s a very dangerous game.”  
Thalia could only gape at her friend. What happened when the Assistants realized there were two Kings? Or when someone went to check on the two humans taking a nap in the tower? What if they were to cross paths with Xieol or the King himself? A dangerous game, indeed.   
They were much deeper in the Citadel now. Signs of life were still scarce, but every now and then some grotesque object hung on the wall. Trophies of war, no doubt. Thalia tried not to look at them. The small numbered plaques that indicated doors were also becoming fewer and further between, indicating that the within were growing in size. When they passed a door near the end of a particularly furnished corridor—its’ walls featured a painting of Arktzirax soldiers in battle, a blood spattered helmet and a gilded axe with a splintered handle— the murmur of voices sounded behind a door.  
Alarmed, Thalia looked to Amanda. The other girl was already waving the Assistant closer. Thalia could not hear what her friend told the robot, but the Assistant nodded and led them around the corner quickly. They passed three more doors before the Assistant came to a halt before a plain expanse of white wall. There was no plaque to indicate a room within, or anything else that would have caused Thalia to glance twice at it.   
The Assistant leaned down and ran his hand along the crevasse where the wall met the floor with one hand. When he seemed to find what he was looking for, he pressed down hard. His entire finger sank into the wall. With a sharp rotation of his wrist, he turned his finger like a key, and a small compartment opened directly above his hand. The Assistant quickly punched in some code, and the wall retracted into itself silently.   
Unlike most doorways Thalia had seen in the Citadel, which were sized to accommodate the likes of Mighty Xieol and the other Arktzirax, this doorway was fairly narrow. It also opened into complete darkness. The Assistant took a step backwards to clear the way, and waved his hand as if beckoning them to enter. Amanda complied quickly. The second she stepped through the doorway, she was consumed into the darkness. It was as if she had fallen into some vertical hole and vanished from sight.  
Thalia hesitated split second, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling as she contemplated the contrast of the darkness and the bright sterile lights above. With a deep breath, she stepped forward and was swallowed by the blackness.


	8. Danger and Deception

The door shut securely behind them. For a split second, they stood in complete darkness. Then, a soft light began to build within the body of the Assistant. A faint, glowing mist floated between his metal skeleton and the hard outer case that was his skin. The mist slowly filled the space within the Assistant, until the hallway before them was dimly lit. Amanda made a waving gesture, and the Assistant squeezed past both girls in the narrow space. With his light leading the way, they began their trek.  
When the hallway became narrower, it also started to slant upwards. They were forced to slow their progress and angle their shoulders to avoid scraping their arms on the walls. Throughout it all, there was silence. Unable to stand it any longer, Thalia brushed a fingertip across Amanda’s shoulder.  
Amanda started. She looked over her shoulder and gave Thalia a questioning look. Thalia took that as permission to speak.  
“Where are we going?” She whispered.  
“I asked for somewhere safe,” Amanda shook her head, “I had no idea there were…tunnels like this in the wall. What could they be for? Do—”  
The Assistant had stopped walking. Not paying attention, Amanda walked right into him with a squeak. She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. The Assistant made an odd gesture towards his mouth—or, at least, the small speaker on his face that acted as a mouth—requesting Amanda’s permission to speak.  
“Yes,” Amanda responded a little stiffly, “Speak freely,”  
“This hall runs between the main corridor and the rooms along it, Your Majesty,” The Assistant responded in his cheery voice. “We are currently progressing up an incline that will take us to the next level of the Citadel, where we will be able to access a viewing area to the Throne Room. Typically, these corridors are utilized by Assistant Droids only, as they are not spacious enough to comfortably accommodate beings such as your Greatness, My King.”  
The two girls glanced at each other. He still thought Amanda was King Qutrax. Right.  
When they finally reached the top of the steep rise, the corridor ended in a single wooden door. The Assistant came to a stop before it and told them that this was a viewing room, from which one could observe the throne room without detection. It was not unheard of for King Qutrax to send Assistants to viewing areas such as this to observe important gatherings and report back to him. The Assistants also used them to listen in on certain members of the court whose loyalty His Majesty had reason to question.  
Apparently, Qutrax also kept tabs on his son. Thalia was not surprised to learn that there was a similar process being employed in her tower. The King had a healthy interest in his son’s dealings with his new bride. It was incredibly strange to stand back and listen to the Assistant speak to Amanda as if she were Arktzirax royalty. It was stranger still to hear them discuss Thalia as if she were not present.  
According to the Assistant, there was a meeting currently taking place within the throne room. When he offered to ascertain the occupants of the room, Amanda quickly declined. She told him that she would see for herself. The Assistant happily opened the door and stood back while Amanda and Thalia pressed past him.  
The space beyond was smaller yet. It was more of a dark closet than a room. The ceiling was so low that both girls were forced to kneel. The room was completely dark and silent. Thalia ran her hand along the back of the space and found a small handle. When pulled, a small portion of the wall slid open to reveal a shimmering metallic grate. The girls hunkered down closer to the wall and peered through the dimly glowing metal.  
From their perch, they were looking down into a large circular chamber. King Qutrax and Prince Xieol stood directly below them. Thalia let out a breath of relief that Amanda had the foresight not to ask the Assistant to see who was in the room.  
The two appeared to be deep in conversation, but they were speaking a guttural language that Thalia did not understand. Despite the distance, Thalia could see dark, angry black lines crisscrossing Xieol’s bare shoulders. Red blotches had risen on his cheeks.  
The King also seemed upset, although his white garment covered more of his pronounced shoulders and obscured his chest. The top of his large head was rippling with black and red. The skin itself seemed to be shifting, as if his tentacles were trying to emerge.  
“We know where they are,” Amanda’s whisper gave Thalia a start, “Now we can avoid them. If we can get to the other side of the Citadel, our chances would be better…”  
It made sense. And yet… Thalia was stuck looking down at the Prince and his father argue. A large part of her desperately wanted to understand them. It was almost soothing to know she was not the only one who made the Prince look that angry.  
Amanda had begun to move away, but turned back and tugged on Thalia’s elbow when she didn’t follow. Her friend was right, of course. This was a good time to get away. They might not have another chance. With a last regretful look towards the grate, Thalia began moving back towards the door.  
“—Thalia—”  
She gave such a start that it was almost a convulsion. They had been found! He had seen her! Both girls froze in their semi-crouch in the viewing room and waited for yelling, for alarms to sound. Yet, the only sounds they heard was the continued argument below them. Besides her name, which was repeated several more times, Thalia understood none it. She had to know. She had to understand. Thalia glanced at Amanda desperately. She knew it was not smart. She knew they should take the opportunity to flee. But she had to know.  
Amanda looked stricken, but leaned back out into the corridor. She quickly asked the Assistant if he was able to translate for them without identifying the speakers. Without question, the Assistant produced a set of earbuds and handed them over with what passed for a smile. His speaker mouth was not particularly mobile at the sides. Still, Amanda nodded her thanks and, after telling him to stay behind and not to listen, she crawled back in beside Thalia.  
Thalia did not hesitate when Amanda offered her one of the pea-sized instruments. She quickly took it and fit it in her ear as best as she could. They were obviously made for much larger, Arktzirax-sized ears. As soon as it was in her ear, the device began translating the strange language into her native tongue. It was disorienting for a moment, hearing the same words in two different languages at the same time. Thalia jammed a finger into her left ear, the side without a device, and crawled towards the opening again. Amanda was quickly pressed against her side, the other device pressed deep into her left ear.  
Below them, the argument only seemed to be escalating.  
“—insubordinate!” Qutrax bellowed, “You have always had more freedom than I should have given you. I have let you lead extraneous missions. I have given entire worlds over to your care so that you would be ready to be King one day. For that, I have demanded obedience when given a task. Execute prisoners? Never a question. Take on a mission? Compliance. But I present you with a gift and you spurn me. You make a mockery of me in front of my entire court—”  
“The court?” Xieol cut him off. Thalia watched grey start a slow spiral around his neck, like smoke beneath his skin, “The court’s opinion means nothing. It is our opinion that should terrify the court! Which of them dare speak ill of me? Give me their names and I will leave their entrails hanging from the rafters of the ceremonial hall. See what the wagging tongues in the court have to say after that!”  
“They will be dealt with,” Qutrax responded. He seemed to be trying to get a grip on his temper. His black lips were pressed together tightly, and he spoke through clenched teeth. “But first I need to deal with you and this rebellion of yours.”  
“Rebellion?” Xieol repeated. His large hands clenched into fists. “You gave me the girl. I took the girl. I stood up in front of your entire fucking court and thanked you for that piece of trash!”  
“Trash?” Qutrax’s grip was slipping. His thick black lips pulled back from his teeth in a grimace. “It took a century to make that girl! A century of war, blood and death, constantly seeking out other options to avoid the extinction of our species. The end of our entire existence. Thalia is your Mate, she will be your Queen. I am not asking you to like her, but I am commanding you to mate with her.”  
The King took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.  
“You are the only offspring I have left,” Qutrax said solidly. He still refused to look at his son. “Do you not understand what this means to us? To our entire race? Your children will be the most fruitful offspring we have seen in decades. You might even be the one to father a daughter. You would be the savior of our race. I want that for you, just as I want my throne to pass to you. There are many who thirst for our blood. Would you see some low-born, sludge-blooded villain on my throne? On what is supposed to be your throne?”  
“Are you suggesting I would allow myself to be murdered?” Xieol challenged, offended. “Or that it is in any way likely? Who would dare? I do not fear a single being on this planet, or any other. I have proven myself time and time again—”  
“That is not the point, Xieol,” The King ripped his eyes from the ceiling and stared at the Prince. “You need to think about the future—”  
“I will give you your heirs!” Xieol cut in, livid, “I will keep that stupid human full with heirs until her body breaks. Then I will throw her out like the human trash she is. I will obey you in keeping her here, in keeping her breeding. What I don’t understand is why I need to touch the disgusting creature. Science has gotten us this far, not rutting in the forest like animals! Let science take over the rest of it. What difference does it make if my heirs are conceived in a test tube? The human will still birth them. They will still be mine. It’s time to leave this to the scientists.”  
“Leave it to scientists—a test tube?” Qutrax sputtered, “The future King of— An Arktzirax male—in a lab?”  
“Maybe that’s the way we should have been doing it. Maybe this will allow greater control of the genes. Maybe we should have the scientists look closer into the chromosome pairs again. If anything, it would only increase the chances—”  
Xieol was still speaking, but Qutrax just stared at him, disbelieving. When the Prince finally trailed off, there was a moment of silence. Then, Qutrax looked directly into his son’s face.  
“You would say anything,” He said, his anger now cold and sharp, “To avoid mating with that girl. I do not understand you, Xieol. Your behavior disgusts me. Do not think I am unaware of your activities. I have let such… amusements… continue because I thought they were a harmless distraction. It is not unheard of. But for a Crown Prince to refuse to mate because of some demented relationship with a guard—”  
“Do not,” Xieol warned. Red spots flared across his forehead like warning lights, but the king did not heed them.  
“To leave the entire fate of our species at risk,” Qutrax’s tentacles slipped out of his head and waved eerily above him. The normally white skin of his scalp was a swirling mass of black and red. “To leave the succession of our kingdom so close to crumbling so that you can fuck that stupid guard—”  
Xieol brought his clenched hand up and punched it straight through his father’s skull. There was a great crack that echoed off the curved walls of the chamber. From their position above, Amanda and Thalia could see Xieol’s wrist and hand protruding grotesquely from the back of what had been Qutrax’s head. Black gelatinous material began to ooze out of the wound and drip down towards the floor.  
Up in their viewing chamber, Thalia collapsed and pressed her face into the cold floor. Her chest heaved and blood pounded in her temples. Over the rushing in her ears, she could just make out the sounds of Amanda vomiting nearby.  
Below, Xieol was calling for the Assistant droids he had left in the hall. Thalia did not want to hear anymore, but shock kept her pressed to the ground. All of her energy was devoted to keeping the bile from rising in her throat. The device in her ear continued to translate.  
“Quickly!” Xieol demanded. Assistants rushed into the room and stood a respectful distance back. They were followed by Arktzirax guards, who paused in the doorway. They were too well trained to gasp, but they did hesitate before approaching.  
King Qutrax lay immobile on the ground, blood and worse things spilling out of him onto the marble floor. Xieol stood over him, his right arm dripping gore. Thalia watched the red spots fade from his scalp. The grey streaks slowly dissipated like smoke. In their place, a tiny swirl of yellow appeared. It was subtle at first, little dots traveling in chains across his shoulders and wrapping up his neck. The color grew swiftly into a bright golden hue. If she weren’t so confused and repulsed, Thalia would have thought the color was pretty.  
“The King has been assassinated.” Xieol said firmly, “I want the assassin brought to me within the hour. Someone will die for this. Do you understand?”  
Thalia did not. It should be obvious to everyone present who the killer was. He had made no attempt to hide it. Yet, each Assistant dipped their chin in understanding and chorused a “Yes, Your Highness,” Their happy voices echoed eerily in the large, bloody room. The Arktzirax guards quickly lowered themselves to one knee and inclined their heads to Xieol.  
“Good,” The Prince responded, his eyes were dark and serious. The yellow glow on his skin burned brighter, “Begin preparations for my coronation, the ceremony will be held at sunset. We cannot delay with a traitor on the loose. As I step up to take my father’s place, we will hold an execution for his murderer. Find this person, or be prepared to take his place. You are all dismissed.”  
The room quickly emptied, with the exception of a single Arktzirax. He remained on one knee, eyes on the ground, until the room had cleared and he was alone with the Prince. When they were alone, the guardsman rose to his feet and looked directly at the ruler.  
“Xieol,” The guardsman’s voice was familiar. Thalia’s head whipped up, and she recognized Guardsman Cruft, the guard that had made Xieol laugh in the tower. There were no signs of laughter from him now. His white face was set in deep, disapproving lines. His voice was even harsher than before, as if he were speaking through a mouthful of rocks.  
“This is not what we planned.”  
“Plans change,” Xieol snapped back. His father’s corpse laid at his feet and he leaned down and tried to wipe his arm off on the material of Qutrax’s shirt. The blood had begun to dry and his skin was still stained red, wipe as he might. With a huff, he dropped the material and stood to face Cruft.  
“Where are we supposed to find this assassin, My Prince?” Cruft’s voice had gotten even darker. “Are we supposed to execute the traitor before or after we put your father’s crown on your head?”  
“You will find someone,” Xieol returned. The yellow dots had begun to fade. Grey started to swirl beneath his skin once more. “Someone I cannot trust. Someone who might ask questions. Any traitor will do. There are plenty of them out there.”  
“But only one guilty assassin,” Cruft countered.  
“Silence!” Xieol said, “I am your ruler, Cruft. Nothing changes that fact. Now, more than ever, I must show the Arktzirax that I have complete control of my subjects. You will not question me. You will not disobey me. I want you alive, and with me. I do not want to kill you. Don’t force my hand.”  
Cruft faltered for a moment. Thalia could see his large throat working. After a second, he pressed his shoulders back and stood at his full height.  
“You have my silence, Your Highness, and you have my loyalty to the crown.” He paused and took a deep breath, “If unquestioning subservience is what you ask of me, then you have it. But you will have nothing beyond that.”  
Xieol seemed surprised by this. His jaw worked as if churning over words, but Cruft did not wait for him to speak. Cruft had already turned on his heel and begun a silent march to the nearest door. The Prince watched Cruft exit in total silence. Xieol spared a moment to stand in the middle of the room, his shoulders slumped slightly and looking almost stricken. All color faded from his skin until he was as white as the walls and the floor. The only color in the room was the red of his dead father’s blood.  
He seemed to notice it. With that, he seemed to come to an internal decision. He pulled his shoulders up straight, crossed to another door and bellowed for an Assistant. One appeared almost instantly.  
“Clean this mess up,” Xieol said off-handedly. He pushed past the Assistant into the hall and was gone.  
“We have to get out of here,” Amanda’s voice was raspy from sickness. Thalia jumped when she heard her friend, but quickly nodded. Her head was a jumbled mess of new information. She did not know how to process it all.  
“The quickest route back to the tower, please,” Amanda whispered to the Assistant. She waved at him irritably when he began to bow. “Quickly, and be quiet.”  
“The tower?” Thalia asked. She paused, one foot in the viewing room and one in the corridor. “You heard what he said he about me— he killed the king—”  
“Not now, Thalia,” Amanda’s voice was quiet, but hard as a rock. “He’s angry already, and we don’t know where he went. The Citadel will be on lockdown because of the assassination. We will never get away, and he could be going to the tower right now.”  
“Then that is the last place I want to be!”  
“He is looking for a scapegoat. Someone he can rip apart to appease the masses.” Amanda balled both fists and pressed them to her temples, eyes closed. She took a steadying breath before she spoke again. “What we are doing right now, spying—this is treason. Now we know privileged information that he is going to have covered up. He already doesn’t want you, Thalia. We can’t make him any angrier.”  
“You think he might actually kill me,” Thalia felt surprisingly calm as she said it, “Now that Qutrax is gone.”  
“If he finds you outside of that Tower, I have no idea what he will do.”  
Amanda opened her eyes and began walking again. This time, Thalia hurried along after her. The trip back to the tower felt much quicker than it should have. Only once did the girls need to duck into a room to avoid a group of Guards rushing by. Luckily, the Assistant seemed to still be disconnected from the Hive Mind. He was blissfully unaware of the turmoil in the Citadel, and was still happily deferring to His King Qutrax—who was still just Amanda. He still seemed unaware of Thalia’s presence. Although the Assistant had been a great help to them, Thalia would not be sorry to see him go. His exuberant presence was at odds with the tumult in her chest, it made her feel off-balance.  
When they reached the bottom of the tower stairs, the group split up. Amanda took the Assistant with her as a guide back to Thruk’s quarters. Thalia was instructed to climb the stairs as quickly as possible and secure herself in the Tower at all costs. In a whisper, Amanda reminded her that both Assistants needed to be destroyed to erase evidence of their tampering. Amanda would take care of their guide. Thalia would need to dispose of the Assistant they had left behind in the tower.  
She nodded, and only paused a second before beginning her ascent back to her prison. Thoughts whirled through her mind so quickly it was hard to grasp hold of a single one. Her chest tightened uncomfortably, partly from the steep climb and partly from anxiety. By the time Thalia reached the top of the spiraling staircase, she was out of breath and panting hard.  
To her surprise, the door was locked. Not knowing what else to do, she rapped her fist against the wooden door three times. She waited a split second, but nothing happened.  
“Let me in!” She yelled as best as she could, still winded, “Open the door!” She beat both fists against the wood. When the door suddenly swung inward, Thalia fell through the threshold into a pair of strong white arms. She screamed.  
A huge hand clamped down on her mouth. She was bundled in against the strong chest of an Arktzirax Male. Her field of vision was taken up by that large expanse of white skin. Her captor pulled the door shut behind them as her pulled her into the room.  
“Don’t scream again, alright?” A deep voice asked. It was familiar, but it wasn’t Xieol. It wasn’t her crazy, patricidal mate. That was all that mattered. Thalia nodded, and the Arktzirax released her. She stumbled backwards and realized two things very quickly.  
One: the Assistant in the corner was now a pile of broken glass and splintered metal, and two: Guardsman Cruft was in her Tower.  
“W-What do you want?” Thalia backed away from Cruft slowly. When her back hit the door, she snaked her arm behind her and felt for the handle. It did not budge.  
“Princess,” Cruft started, but he seemed to notice her flinch. “I’m sorry, I forgot what your name is,”  
“Thalia,” She responded. “Not that it matters. Your friend is going to kill me, isn’t he? Or did he send you to do it?”  
The thought that Xieol might think so little of her that he would not even kill her himself was surprising. She had not considered that he may have more important things to do than murder his bride and would probably pass it off to a lackey, or have the Assistants do it. Being called “Princess” had given her an over developed sense of worth. Hadn’t Thruk warned her about getting a big head?  
“Xieol is not my friend. We were…Well, a lot has changed very quickly.” Cruft’s voice was strained, but he seemed to be making an effort not to alarm her. His voice was almost soft, “I don’t have time to explain. Would you please just sit down? The door isn’t going to open and your fidgeting is making me nervous.”  
“Making you nervous?” Thalia countered, “You still haven’t said whether you’re here to kill me or not.”  
Cruft’s black lips peeled back from his teeth in a smile. Her discomfiture seemed to amuse him.  
“If I were here to kill you, you wouldn’t still be alive.” He took a step back and gestured to the large circular bed in the center of the room. “Just sit down. I need to talk to you. We don’t have a lot of time.”  
There was no reason to trust him, but something about the earnest tone in his voice moved Thalia. There could not be much harm in hearing him out. Hopefully. She kept wary eyes on him as she walked around the bed and settled on the window seat. She sat perched on the edge, straight-backed and ready to spring up if he attacked. She had no delusion that she would win in a confrontation with Cruft, or any Arktzirax, but she was determined to go out with a fight.  
“I don’t suppose you can let me out of here?” She asked stiffly. She already knew the answer, but felt compelled to ask, “Or tell me how to get out?”  
“No,” Cruft responded, his lips pulled back in a sad smile, “I wouldn’t have locked the door if I were going to let you out. I…feel for you. I have known Xieol for a long time. He has always been temperamental and recently he has been…changing.”  
Cruft took a deep breath before continuing, “He was not always like this, and I have been holding out hope that this change is temporary. I see now that my hope was in vain. He has changed in a deep, fundamental way and not for the better. You are going to have to bear the brunt of his temper. For that, I am very sorry.”  
“Then let me out.”  
“I cannot do that.” Cruft’s pity evaporated and he looked at her with a clinical eye, “My Prince is behaving madly, but that does not change the fact that the two of you are the best hope the Arktzirax have. I may feel for you, but I will not let my entire race face extinction due to my emotions. We are not all like him, you know. The Arktzirax are as diverse as the human race, or any other race for that matter. Xieol does not represent us as a whole. He may be flawed, but that does not mean our species is not worth saving.”  
The look in his eyes was pleading, but Thalia just stared back blankly. After a second of rethinking his words, heat rose in her cheeks. She stiffened further on the window seat.  
“What?” He noted the blush on her cheeks and cocked his head to one side.  
“I don’t have any idea how ‘diverse’ humans are.” Thalia returned through her teeth, “I’ve only met around fifty girls my own age. I have never even seen a male of my own species.”  
“And I have never seen more than a painting of a female of mine,” Cruft returned, but without any heat.  
“That is not my fault!” Thalia said, “What did I do to deserve this? What did humans do? I understand that you want to save your people, but what right do the Arktzirax have to destroy my race just to save themselves? Are you all really that blind? Do you really think you are so much better than me?”  
It was his turn to look at her oddly.  
“We are the advanced species.” He said, “The offspring we are producing through our programs are better because of it. We are bettering the human race by mixing it into our bloodline. We are not destroying it.”  
“By enslaving us? By making us—mate—against our will? By locking us up in space ships, and towers, and drugging us to make us think we are happy about it?”  
“I have never spoken with a human before,” Cruft seemed confused. “Their mates do not allow it, and unmated females are kept away from us. I always assumed you were much like the Assistant droids. I did not imagine you could converse in this manner, but you seem…quite intelligent.”  
“I am of moderate intelligence for my kind,” Thalia said with a grimace, thinking back to her days on the Quarantine Ship. “All I’m trying to say is that I am not a robot, and I am not a piece of meat. I may be a different species, but I am a person. I am every bit as good as you or your people—”  
“You are nothing,” Came a dark voice from the door. Xieol stood there, dark storms of grey, red and black whirling beneath his skin. Cruft visibly stiffened, but did not turn to face his Prince.  
“You are less than an Assistant,” Xieol continued, “less than cattle, and I am done waiting for you to accept that. What you think does not matter.”  
Thalia floundered for a response. Her rage, shock and fear created a thick cloud she couldn’t seem to think through. Xieol was not waiting for a response. He had already turned to Cruft as if she had ceased to exist.  
“Guardsman, report,”  
“The Hive received conflicting reports regarding the movements of the King,” Cruft turned to face Xieol. He kept his eyes respectfully lowered as he continued, “Two assistants were taken off the Hive’s radar an hour before the King’s assassination. One is still missing, the other I tracked to this Tower. I arrived to find the Assistant malfunctioning and threatening the Princess. I acted in her defense by destroying it.”  
Xieol’s black eyes swept over the room. They took in Cruft, standing near the bed, Thalia perched near the window and the dismembered body of the robot in the corner. When his eyes seemed to linger on her, Thalia lowered her own to the floor to avoid giving anything away. She did not know why Cruft was lying, but she was grateful that he was concealing her escape attempt.  
“Then you will be happy to know the other malfunctioning Assistant has been found,” Xieol told Cruft, but kept his eyes on Thalia, “Its body was found in General Thruk’s apartments. There was strong evidence of tampering. It is obvious that the General has been using the Assistants to spy on my father, and today used the same method to conceal his whereabouts while he assassinated the King.”  
Thalia let out a gasp. Her head snapped up so quickly her neck cracked. The only outward sign of surprise that Cruft showed was a slight tightening of his white shoulders. Xieol’s eyes shifted to the guardsman and bored into his smooth white head.  
“Thruk has been arrested, stripped of his rank and is awaiting execution,” Xieol continued. It was clear he was waiting to see how Cruft would respond to the news. “His beheading will take place in the ceremonial chamber before my coronation at sunset. It will be clear to everyone present that the monarchy is stable, and free from potential threats. Attendance is mandatory. Those not on-planet will view a live broadcast.”  
“I congratulate Your Highness on locating the assassin,” Cruft responded without emotion. He kept his head lowered and refused to look at the Prince.  
“I am not the only one to congratulate,” Xieol returned. An evil glint had appeared in his eye. “With Thruk’s execution, I have an immediate opening for a general. As a reward for your years of faithful service, as well as your recent protection of the Princess…” He paused to grin at Thalia wickedly.  
“I am more than honored to promote you to Thruk’s post, effective immediately.” Only when he finished did both Cruft’s and Thalia’s heads snap up.  
“What about Amanda?” Thalia asked.  
“Immediately?” Cruft asked at the same time.  
“Oh, you are awarded all of Thruk’s belongings,” Xieol continued with a wave of his hand. He seemed to derive extreme pleasure from ignoring the clear distress in the room. “Choose which to keep and which to discard as you want. If his used mate interests you, by all means take her with you.”  
“With me?” Cruft repeated. His voice had hardened. “With me where, Your Highness?”  
“Oh, I have no intention of becoming just another King in a line of worthless Kings,” Xieol returned, supremely proud of himself, “I will be crowned Emperor. I intend to send my generals to all edges of our realm and expand endlessly. Our conquest will be like nothing the universe has ever seen. Our power will know no limit. You will leave directly and, leading Thruk’s former forces, make the first attack outside of our Empire. I have selected a weak planet. It will fall easily. It will be a statement to the rest of the universe of our intentions. All of the galaxies will cower before our might.”  
“And this planet,” Cruft sounded like he had been punched in the stomach, “What am I to harvest from it?”  
“You are going there to conquer it,” Xieol’s eyes narrowed and he stared down the newly appointed General Cruft, “Let the troops loot it if there is anything worth taking. Destroy the rest. Leave the inhabitants that will bow to my reign shuddering in fear. Kill those who fight. Your instructions are clear. Specifics have been uploaded onto your new spacecraft’s computer. Gather what you need and leave immediately. You should be off-planet by the time of the coronation. Do not forget to watch.”  
“I think, Your Highness, that perhaps—” Cruft started, clearly shaken.  
“I don’t care what you think.” Xieol cut him off. “And I don’t want your opinion. I suggest you keep your mouth shut and follow orders. Unless you want to find yourself in Thruk’s shoes. I will have obedience.”  
“Yes, Your Highness,” Cruft responded.  
“You are dismissed.” Xieol snapped at him. The Prince then walked over to examine the dismantled Assistant closer.  
Cruft nodded and turned to exit. He came to a stop just before reaching the door. Thalia could just make out him fiddling with the white material that made up his pants. He glanced quickly over his shoulder at Xieol, who was still bent over the Assistant. Cruft’s eyes flew back to Thalia and held her gaze intently as his hand came up. The light reflected off of a small silver object—a button, or some small metal coin. Cruft moved too fast for her to get a good look at the object.  
Holding her gaze, he turned and flung the shining disk across the room. At first she thought he was throwing it at her, and ducked to one side. The disc flew right past her ear and through the window. There was a small burst of light, but no alarms or crackle of electricity. Unlike the Assistant that Xieol had thrown through the window, the small silver disc was not bounced back or burned. It simply reflected back the light as it passed through unharmed.  
Thalia looked back at Cruft just in time to catch his meaningful look before he quickly exited the Tower. As the door closed behind him, Thalia glanced back to the window in astonishment. Cruft had obviously tried to tell her something, but she was not at all sure what that was. Could it be possible that he was trying to help her escape? Or maybe just get her electrocuted.  
“What was that?” Xieol asked. Thalia was not sure how much he had seen, but he was now glancing suspiciously between the window, Thalia and the door. He looked confused and displeased.  
“I don’t know,” Thalia answered honestly, at a loss.  
“You had better not,” Xieol growled. He gave the remains of the Assistant a kick and approached the window. He stared down at her.  
“You are about to witness something amazing, Princess,” He spat her title like venom, “With Qutrax out of the way, I can finally make something out of this Kingdom. I am done scraping by trying to keep my species alive. I am done breeding human slaves. Now that I have you, I can produce a true Arktzirax heir.”  
He ran his hand across her scalp and down the back of her head, stroking her like a pet. Thalia bit her lip and fought her desire to pull away. At least he wasn’t hurting her, yet.  
“I will not go down in history for breeding, though,” He continued, “No, I will create an Empire of the Arktzirax. We have tolerated the inferior races for too long. They have their uses as slaves, but allowing entire planets of them to exist? My father was a fool. They just get in the way of progress and expansion. I will rid this galaxy, and all those around it, of the vermin races. By the end of my life time, there will not be a non- Arktzirax left without a collar on it in this universe.”  
“Oh, things have changed for you, Princess,” Xieol’s hand balled into a fist in Thalia’s hair and he jerked her head back. He smiled darkly down into her pale face. “I will be Emperor, and you will be my Empress. It’s unavoidable. I can’t change the fact that I need heirs. You will give them to me.”  
His grip on her hair loosened but Thalia held herself still despite the small amount of freedom. Scrambling away now would only draw his wrath.  
“I am done hiding this process from the world.” He continued. “From now on, every slave will know who their master is. Every puny, crawling creature will know what its purpose is. They will either bow down or they will be crushed. And they are going to have a beautiful example, thanks to you. They will either see you in your proper place, groveling at my feet, or they will see you tied to a birthing bed. Those are your choices, Princess, and that’s not even the best part.”  
“Once I have my heirs, the humans will have overstayed their welcome,” He ran his fingers through her long hair until they caught in a tangle near the end. He ripped his hand free, taking a several strands of hair with it, “You will be the last one I kill. You will watch and see your species annihilated like the pathetic creatures they are. What good are humans once I have true heirs? Science has assured me you will give me a female. I will make sure you provide an adequate number before eliminating you. But I will tell you this much…”  
He climbed to his feet, but leaned down to look directly into her face. “I am going to enjoy your death the most.”  
“Why do you hate me so much?” She asked softly, despite every part of her screaming out in self-preservation. “What did the humans ever do to you?”  
“Humans?” He asked, drawing himself up to his full height. “I don’t hate them anymore than I hate spiders. We allow a certain number of them because they serve a purpose. Once that purpose is gone, we kill them because they disgust us. And as for you,”  
Dark spots bubbled up under his skin.  
“You have no idea what your presence has cost me,” He glanced at the door angrily, “I have been forced to put plans into action that were not ready yet. I have alienated those I trust. You cost me my father.”  
“But you killed—” She started, but was cut off by a large white hand wrapping around her throat. Xieol lifted her off the ground, until their eyes were on same level. Thalia scratched at his wrist and struggled, but it was no use. He leaned in until their eyes were almost touching and spoke directly into her face.  
“I do not know what Cruft has told you,” His voice was more threatening than she had ever heard it. “But if I ever even suspect that you might utter such treasonous filth again, I will personally rip your tongue from your mouth.”  
With that, he released his grip on her throat and she fell to the floor gasping.  
“Obviously you have enjoyed too much freedom up until this point.” He continued as if she had never spoken, “I see no reason for you to leave this room again except for ceremonial purposes.”  
“I—,” Thalia had pulled herself up onto her hands and knees, she panted, trying to catch her breath. Her neck screamed in pain. “I will never mate with you. I will never be any kind of empress. Kill me if that’s what you want to do, but just do it and let it be over.”  
She braced herself for pain and hoped it would be quick. She wished she was brave enough to look up at him, but she could not bear to face his murderous rage. Cruft was right. Xieol had changed. He had gone completely insane.  
Thalia started when Xieol let out a bark of laughter.  
“Mate with you?” Xieol laughed again, but it was a dark, bitter sound. “No, no. That is completely unnecessary. After the ceremony tonight, my scientists will extract your eggs. They will fertilize them under close scrutiny and place them back in one at a time. My personal team of scientists have been working on this process in secret for years. It is disappointing that they have not yet been able to create a successful incubator to bring a baby to term, but there is always hope for a break through. Until then, your body will have to do. I will kill you, once I have what I need. For now, you will stay in this room under guard. I will send someone to prepare you for the coronation ceremony.”  
With that, Xieol crossed the room and left.  
Thalia stayed crouched on the floor long after the echo of the door slamming had faded. Still on her hands and knees, she stared down at the white tiles of the floor. She could just make out her reflection in them if she stared hard enough. Not the features of her face, or any identifying mark. Simply the blurry human shape of her head and the shadow of her messy hair. This was how the Arktzirax saw her, she knew. Something human-shaped and empty, no different than any other vaguely human-shaped thing. A tool to use and discard. Xieol might not be the best representative of his species, but even Cruft— who had seemed almost kind— had been surprised to find her body was inhabited by a real person. They looked at her the way she looked at the trees in the distance. Knowing that they were alive, but also knowing that their type of life was not the same as hers. It was a hollow, uninhabited life. It was not worth as much as hers was.  
Small spots of water appeared on her blurry reflection and Thalia realized she was crying. She sat back on her knees and wiped at her eyes angrily. The wounds on her face screamed when she accidently touched the bandages on her face. She had forgotten that they were there.  
The door opened and two Assistants entered. They greeted her warmly, but she did not have the heart to respond. How could she, when everything she said was being reported to someone? How could she try and pretend that they were more than pieces of wire, metal and glass when there was still a pile of broken gears and bent pipes on the floor beside her?  
One Assistant immediately began the task of cleaning up the destroyed robot. The other stayed near the door, ready to assist if she asked. For a moment, Thalia considered asking for their calming mist. Ultimately, she decided against it. Her chest was not a ball of tension, for once. She simply felt hollow and miserable. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that she just wanted the comfort of feeling nothing. So much had happened so quickly. Too quickly. Pain, shock, revulsion and despair slowly filtered through her body like thick slime. It left her feeling cold and dirty. As much as she hated those emotions, and wanted them gone, she was afraid of what it would be like when they finally settled. Thalia did not want to be left empty.  
When Elaine arrived to prepare her for the coronation ceremony, she found the Empress-to-be curled up on the window seat with her face in her hands. The older woman immediately launched into a long, jumbled speech that made little to no sense. Thalia ignored her entirely. The only move she made was to raise her head and stare out the window into the distance. The far-off forest stood tall and silent, unchanged despite the havoc going on in the world around it. They must be ancient, those trees. They must have weathered so much, and still they stood reaching for the sky in silent strength. Xieol himself could approach them with an axe and they would not quake or cower in fear. Even as they fell, they would not beg or cry. Maybe their form of life was superior to Thalia’s after all.  
Slowly, she became aware of the silence in the room. Elaine’s inane chattering had, mercifully, lapsed. The older woman stood in the doorway to the bathroom, staring at Thalia. A basket full of cosmetics and perfumes hung off of one saggy arm. Thalia looked away from her quickly. She could not bear the pity shining in Elaine’s eyes.  
“So,” Thalia started without looking back. She swallowed against the hoarseness in her voice, “No happy tonic today?”  
“No,” Elaine responded quietly. The illusion of boisterous energy faded away completely. The older woman’s shoulders slumped and she set the basket down on the floor. “His Highness the Prince has outlawed the potion. Many of the woman, I fear, won’t handle the transition well. It’s addictive, after all, and they— we— aren’t used to facing the…reality of our situation. The next few weeks are going to be very hard, very difficult for us.”  
“Are they— the other women, I mean, do they blame me?”  
“No! No, of course, not at all, dear.” Elaine came and sat next to Thalia on the seat. She reached out a hand to stroke Thalia’s hair but retracted it when Thalia flinched away. Thalia bundled her hair into one hand and twisted it over her shoulder, shielding it from further abuse. In doing so, she also exposed the new bruises on her neck. The black impressions of Xieol’s fingers lined her throat like stripes.  
“Sweetheart,” Elaine tried again, looking down at Thalia’s crumpled form, “It is going to be okay. I mean, what I mean to say is that you can’t give up. Not now. We need you.”  
“No one needs me,” Thalia responded emptily, “The Arktzirax need my body and there’s nothing I can do to stop them. Nothing I can do to fight them. Nowhere for me to run. He’s going to kill all of us, Elaine. I can’t just watch you all die.”  
“You listen to me now, okay?” Elaine slowly lifted Thalia’s chin and held her gaze. “I resigned myself to dying a long time ago. We are human, after all. We live, we breed and we die. That is not anything new to us. If Xieol plans to kill us, and I do not doubt you sweetheart, then what good will sitting here crying do about it?”  
“I’m not crying,” Thalia muttered, but if Elaine ignored her.  
“I can promise you one thing: he will not kill you today, sweetheart. And he will most likely not kill you tomorrow. No matter what he says, you are extremely valuable. Worth more than anything he has right now. With you gone, what does he have? His big bad species is back to scrambling to survive. Back to hunting and searching, back to trying to create another you.”  
“You are precious,” Elaine gripped Thalia’s chin when the younger woman would have looked away, “But not for any of those reasons. You were born, and you are alive, right now. No matter what happens tomorrow or the next day. There is a reason for it. I believe that with everything I am. And if you let that, that creature convince you that your life is worthless, then you are letting him win. If you listen to him, his words will eat you like poison. You need to fight this, Thalia. You need to be strong for all of us.”  
Thalia looked up into Elaine’s face. She took in the deep lines, the sagging skin. This was a woman who knew pain, despite her primping and smiling. Most of all, Thalia took in the earnest expression on Elaine’s face. She had once wondered how Elaine had managed to survive in the Citadel, where she had never seen any other older women. She had assumed it was due to the tonic Elaine took to keep her happy. Now, though, she could see the strength in Elaine’s eyes. There was a fire burning in the other woman.  
“Why?” Thalia finally asked.  
“All of those girls you knew, and all the ones you never met,” Elaine said gently, but her voice was strong, “They are about to see a live broadcast of the coronation. They are about to find out what you have just learned— their role in all of this. All of the humans are. His Highness is going to stand up and tell every non- Arktzirax subject he has exactly what he thinks of them. He is going to try to destroy them, to crush their spirits and kill any hope they have. And that is all they are going to have, Thalia: hope.”  
Thalia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
“What do I need to do?”  
Elaine immediately began ordering the Assistants around the room. They brought a chair into the bathroom and set it up before the mirror. A table was also produced and set up nearby. One Assistant placed Elaine’s basket on the table and began unpacking it, but the older woman quickly shooed him away. She personally spread the contents of the basket out across the table in a very precise, almost medical manner. Instead of scalpels and sutures, however, Elaine’s basket held cosmetics of every sort. Most of them shimmered in glass tubes and bottles. There was also a wide array of brushes, sponges and other objects that Thalia did not recognize. She was grateful to note that the white paste was absent.  
When everything was set up exactly how she wanted it, Elaine waved Thalia towards the chair. For a moment, she hesitated in the doorway. She could not help but remember what had happened the first time Elaine had made her up for the Prince. It was impossible to forget the feeling of his hands holding her under the water, of her lungs burning for air.  
“It’s going to be okay, Sweetheart,” Elaine said soothingly, as if she were addressing a spooked animal. She held one arm out imploringly. “I will tell you more as I work, but we do not have much more time to waste. Please, Your Highness, trust me with this.”  
Thalia sucked in a breath at the title. She hated the sound of it more than any horrible name she had ever been called. It was the same honorific so many people used for Xieol. She did not want to have a single thing in common with him.  
“Just Thalia,” She said, her voice a little more firm than it had been before. Elaine nodded, and Thalia sat in the chair before the mirror.  
The older woman was instantly in motion. She removed the bandages from Thalia’s face and washed out the wounds. Thalia flinched, but said nothing, as the older woman began packing the wounds with paste and cream to obscure them. The bruises on her neck, hands and arms all received the same treatment. Once the signs of abuse were eliminated, Elaine dusted powder across Thalia’s skin, to even out her complexion.  
To her relief, all of the colors Elaine brushed and painted onto her blended seamlessly with her skin. It left her looking very natural. When she looked in the mirror again, Thalia still recognized her reflection. It was odd, seeing all the outward signs of abuse erased when the inner wounds were still so fresh. Still, she decided, it was a relief to see her face as she remembered seeing it. Back before it was constantly bruised and bleeding. Seeing herself whole reignited something deep inside her. She wanted to get back to this girl she saw in the mirror. Without make-up and paste. She wanted to be herself again. She would not let Xieol take her identity from her.  
“There you are,” Elaine said. She was standing behind Thalia’s shoulder and looking into the mirror at their reflections. Thalia took another second to marvel at the differences between them. With their faces so close together, it was almost startling. If she had the ability to do this, why didn’t Elaine use her skills on her own face? Surely, if she could make wounds, scratches and bruises vanish, wrinkles would be no challenge. Thalia almost asked, but decided against it. It was Elaine’s right to look however she wanted.  
“Now, Sweetheart, we make you an Empress,” Elaine reached over to her table and began opening small pots. Each contained bright, sparkling colors, like star dust in each color of the rainbow. Thalia’s heart sank.  
“I don’t…” She started, and swallowed a lump in her throat. Again, the image of Xieol leering at her through the water replayed in her mind. She shook her head to clear it. “He’s made it very clear that he wants a slave, not an Empress. I don’t want to make him any angrier.”  
“Who do you think my orders come from?” Elaine asked without a pause in her work. She picked up a small pot filled with glimmering silver dust and dipped a dampened brush into it. “Close your eyes now, dear,”  
Thalia complied. The damp brush swept along her eyelid, leaving a thin wet trail.  
“Keep them closed, okay?” Elaine asked, and Thalia complied. The thin brush was replaced by a thicker one running just below her eyebrow. As the powder dried, it left a slight itching sensation behind.  
“His Highness gave me very specific instructions for all of this,” Elaine continued as she worked. “He wants you to sparkle like all the stars in his Kingdom…well, his Empire, now. He may have told you he wants a slave, but by what he told me, he wants a captive Goddess. When you kneel before him, he wants you to represent all the people of the conquered galaxies. So, we will do exactly as he has requested. Lean your chin up, now, Sweetheart. And yes, you can open your eyes.”  
Elaine used a single finger to tip Thalia’s chin up and then began dusting a fine layer of glimmering powder across Thalia’s cheeks. Thalia opened her eyes and looked directly into the bright white light above her. It helped burn away any thought of tears. He literally wanted her to kneel in front of him on a public broadcast that the entire Kingdom was required to watch? She swallowed a lump in her throat.  
“How will doing exactly what he wants help anyone?” She asked finally, when she was sure her voice would be steady.  
“Eh-eh, hold still now,” Elaine reprimanded softly. A think brush ran along the contour of her lips. There was a pause, and then something sticky was applied across her mouth. “There, now, I think…”  
Elaine stood back and gestured towards the mirror. Hesitant, Thalia glanced towards the mirror out of the corner of one eye at first. Blinking, silver starlight greeted her and she turned her full face towards the mirror in awe.  
Her blue eyes were rimmed with blue and silver, making them shine brightly. Tiny crystals glinted from the tips of her eyelashes as she blinked. Her lips had been painted red, but that was overlaid with millions of shining silver pieces that each caught the light and glimmered as she parted her lips in awe. Her face literally glowed like soft moonlight emanating from her smooth skin. She looked pale, but in an ethereal way. There was nothing Arktzirax about her.  
“Well,” Elaine continued with a small smirk as Thalia stared at her own reflection, “Maybe we aren’t doing exactly what His Highness asked for. You see, instead of representing the galaxies he has conquered, I thought, maybe, you should shine like all the ones that are beyond his grasp.”  
Thalia sat silently, staring at her own reflection as Elaine brushed out her long black hair. She left it hanging loose, but brushed shimmering powder into it so that when it moved it caught the light. With that, Elaine took Thalia gently by the arm and led her back into the main room. Thalia caught her breath.  
The Assistants had pushed the round bed back against the wall and set up a dress form before a full-length mirror. The mannequin was cloaked in such dazzling beauty that it took Thalia a second to realize that it was, in fact, a dress and not some fallen heavenly body.  
The gown was made up of overlapping silver and gold plates. Each plate curved in a slightly different way, so that each speck of light that hit the dress was reflected back over and over again. The plating seemed to drip down the dress-form. A trail of larger plates trailed from one shoulder down, across the abdomen, and all the way to the floor. A high slit was placed just below this trail, possibly so that she would be able to walk in the stiff dress— and possibly so that flashes of her pale leg would be visible as she did so.  
The main stream of plates was rimmed on either side with smaller plates, growing smaller and smaller the further that they got from the middle. By the time they reached the side of the dress, the plates resembled shining, interlocking coins. They would almost have given the impression of armor, or scales, except for the fact that each was a unique shape. Many had tips that reached out slightly in various directions, like a twinkling star. The small protrusions were vaguely threatening, but more beautiful than anything. The dress was also encrusted with jewels of every color. They sparkled, winked and shone in the light reflected from the panels. Small interlocking plates flowed down into what Thalia assumed were sleeves. A long glittering train stretched out to the nearest wall, where the remainder of the fabric was folded neatly. She could only imagine that the train extended well over twenty feet. A simple silver circlet sat delicately on a large white pillow nearby. It was devoid of any other decoration, save for a single golden scale placed at the front.  
Thalia stood staring at the incredible, daunting beauty before her until Elaine placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“How strong do you think I am?” She asked the older woman.  
“Strong enough to do this, Sweetheart. Anything that you set your mind—”  
“No,” Thalia cut her off and gestured toward the gown, “Literally. That thing must weigh a ton!”  
In the end, they had to call in additional Assistants to get Thalia encased inside the gown. It was surprisingly light, given the sheer scale of it. It was only slightly cumbersome when Thalia tried to move, and Elaine encouraged her to practice walking back and forth across the room. Elaine trailed behind her as she walked, the ridiculously long train bundled lovingly in her arms. Luckily, the matching shoes were simple, silver slippers and did not provide any additional challenge.  
Once Elaine was satisfied that Thalia could be trusted to walk without ruining anything, she instructed the younger girl to sit on the window seat. Thalia carefully did as requested while Elaine retrieved the tiara from its pillow.  
“Now,” Elaine said when she returned. She gently lowered the tiara onto Thalia’s sparkling hair so that the single gold scale was perfectly centered. “We won’t pin this, Dear, because during the ceremony they will remove it. So you must keep you head up.”  
Elaine tapped the bottom on Thalia’s chin with one finger.  
“You keep your eyes straight ahead. Do not look down for anyone. Remember: you are a Princess. After this, you will be an Empress. And, more important than that, tonight you represent every being in the universe that is Non- Arktzirax — the vermin species, he calls us! You hold you head up, like a true Empress, look him dead in the eye and show him— show us— that he is wrong.”  
Thalia took a deep breath and almost nodded. She caught herself just in time and reached up with one hand to assure herself that the tiara had not slipped. It was still firmly seated on her head. Her eyes caught on the material of her sleeve for a moment. There was something eerily familiar about those small, shining scales. The ghost of a memory twitched behind her eyes.  
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Elaine was back in the bathroom, packing her basket. “They were created specifically for you. Just the most novel idea, yes? Such beauty, such strength!”  
Thalia looked closer at the material, trying to decipher where each small scale ended and the next began. On her sleeves, the plates were quite small. They looked like tiny, irregular coins… Her head snapped up quickly. She felt the tiara slide to the left, but she ignored it completely as she jumped to her feet.  
“Elaine!” She cried, and the other woman rushed out of the bathroom, “Do you have more of these?” She gestured to the small scales on her sleeve.  
“Y-yes, yes of course, Sweetheart,” Elaine responded, still looking alarmed. She reached into her basket a produced a box of tiny replacement scales, “Why? Did one fall off? I knew we should have gone over them a sixth time—”  
“No, no, everything is fine. Just, could I see one… please?”  
Elaine still looked concerned, but she dropped a small silver scale into Thalia’s outstretched hand. Thalia held it up to her face briefly, grinned, and then tossed it out the window. Elaine screamed and dove for the ground, but Thalia only watched the resulting flash of light with a smile. So, Cruft had been trying to tell her something.  
When it came time for the coronation, Elaine was still scolding Thalia about the window. The older woman had no idea why the alarms had not gone off, no idea why the object had not been burnt and thrown back into the room. She advised Thalia to be grateful for the small miracle and to never attempt anything like that again.  
Thalia was almost glad when a troop of ten Assistants came to escort her to the Ceremonial Chamber. It was clear that Elaine was not invited to tag along. Before she took her leave, she clasped Thalia’s hands one last time.  
“You can do this, Sweetheart.” She said earnestly, ignoring the Assistants that were chattering about the delay, “Chin up, smile, look him in the eye. Remember: you are strong. We are strong, and we are all with you in spirit.”  
A sudden lump planted itself in her throat, so Thalia merely squeezed the other woman’s hands in return. It seemed to be answer enough. Elaine smiled, nodded, and stepped back so that the Assistants could lead Thalia out of the room. One Assistant walked closely behind Thalia, the long train of her gown bundled carefully in his arms, as they began their trek down the spiraling stairs of the Tower.  
The thought of what was to come next made Thalia’s chest tighten and her head start to spin. So she focused her thoughts on the window instead. When she had first been brought to the Tower, the Assistants had explained that all the arrow-slits and windows were protected by lasers to keep out pests. When Thruk had thrown an Assistant at the window, the lazars had activated and burnt the robot before bouncing him back into the room like a fiery net. Alarms had also been triggered.  
Yet, both the coin and the metal plate had gone through this net without burning, bouncing back, or triggering the alarms. How? What exactly was Cruft trying to tell her, and why? There was clearly something going on between him and Xieol that Thalia did not fully understand. As a Guardsman, and now a General, Cruft was loyal to Xieol. He had sworn that loyalty to Xieol in the Tower just before he threw the coin.  
The more Thalia thought about it, the more she was convinced that the “coin” had actually been a small scale from her dress. How had Cruft managed to get his hands on one? And why bring it to the Tower? She knew he had not gone to her Tower just to check on the malfunctioning Assistant. If that were the truth, he would not have destroyed the robot, thus destroying all the evidence of tampering. He also would not have lied to Xieol about the Assistant trying to attack her. As a loyal, devoted guard and personal friend, he should have told Xieol that she had not been in the Tower when he first arrived. Cruft had been waiting to talk to her. What exactly had he wanted to say before Xieol interrupted?  
When they reached the bottom of the spiraling stairs, a troop of six Arktzirax Guardsmen joined their procession. Thalia eyed them each in turn, but none were familiar. She had hoped to see Cruft, but Xieol had obviously wanted him gone quickly. The new General was probably already aboard what used to be Thruk’s spaceship. He might even be soaring off to the edges of the Kingdom already, with Amanda in tow.  
Hopefully.  
She refused to let herself consider the alternative. Cruft had seemed almost kind. Deluded, obviously, but sympathetic. Thalia had to believe that he would have taken Amanda with him. The further her friend was from Xieol, the better. Thalia could only hope that Cruft would be a better mate to Amanda than Thruk had been.  
Before Thalia had time to process it, the doors of the ceremonial chamber were looming above her. Butterflies danced in her stomach and she swallowed deeply to calm them. Chin up, eyes defiant. She must stay strong. For Elaine, for herself, for…everyone.  
The doors slowly opened and her procession joined the tail end of a much longer procession of guards and gearmen. All were dressed in white draping robes with shining golden thread woven through. No one spoke or so much as glanced around. All eyes were forward and up, although Thalia had no hope of seeing what stood at the head of the room. She had a guess, though.  
Her Husband.  
Trumpets blared and the procession began to move forward one slow step at a time. The steady thump of the Arkzirax steping in unusion was slightly unnerving. An Arkzirax somewhere ahead was calling out what had to be a cadence for them. Thalia leaned in to one of the gearmen and, after a whispered exchange, procured a set of ear buds to translate for her. Just as she slipped them into her ears, the procession suddenly halted.  
“Who comes to claim the throne of Qutrax the Magnificent?” A male voice hissed from somewhere ahead.  
“Crown Prince Xieol, the Mighty,” Her husband’s voice sounded.  
Thalia glanced around. Even on her toes, all she could see where white bodies, gearmen and white cloth.  
“The Mighty,” The same odd voice came again, “Who allowed our eminent majesty to be slain within these very walls, within this very day. Do you rush to pluck up his crown while blood is still wet upon it?”  
“I have come to claim what is mine, by right and by deed.”  
“Your predecessor was slain within these very walls, Prince,” The hissing voice sent a tremor down Thalia’s spine. “This is a grievous injustice and the highest form of treason. The crown demands the blood of the perpetrator before accepting a new owner. Has the traitor been captured?”  
“He has,” Xieol returned.  
“Then let us begin,” The hissing voice was almost a whisper, but suddenly the entire procession was in motion. Thalia caught glimpses of the golden room as she was all but shoved forward. Each of her upper arms were clasped by a gearmen to help her stay in step with the procession. As they came to the front of the room, the Arkzirax column split down the middle. Each side peeled off to be seated on either side of the large aisle.  
As she arrived at the front of the room, Thalia finally saw her husband standing before the golden dais. He was wearing a solid golden robe, his three tentacles all out and moving eerily above his head. Each had a small golden circlet at its base.  
An old, shriveled Arkzirax stood upon the dias before Xieol. Even upon the golden disk, he was only at eye level with the prince. Thalia wondered if gravity had pulled the old Arkzirax man down, or if it was the weight of knowledge that had bowed his back. Just as the gearmen steered her away, she caught the old man’s eyes, and she saw in those depths that he knew. Everything, possibly. Every horror in this galaxy. She saw pain, tears and terror reflected there, and she could not look away. It was a blessing when the gearmen yanked her to the right, breaking her gaze.  
The room was silent as the old Arkzirax raised his withered hand and gestured towards a side door. A squadron of Arkzirax guards came through, dragging a mass of blood and broken white skin. Thruk.  
They drug him up the middle aisle and threw him down before the dias, so close to Xieol that blood spattered onto the prince’s robes. Instead of revulsion, Xieol pulled back his black lips and smiled down at the broken man, his eyes gleaming. He was about to get what he wanted, and he knew it.  
“A general appointed by your father himself,” The old Arkzirax, obviously the officiant of these violent proceedings, noted. “Shameful. How will you prevent the same fate from befalling you, Mighty Xieol?”  
Xieol launched into a prepared speech. He listed names of places far and near, of peoples Thalia had never heard of and that, thanks to Xieol, she would never meet. The sheer scope of terror Xieol had wrecked upon the universe repulsed her. In the back of her head, she had hoped he had been exaggerating. She had hoped that he wasn’t quite the villain that he seemed. For the universe’s sake.  
“And I will do more,” Xieol concluded, “I will not take up my father’s post as King, but instead don the mantle of Emperor. My first act will be to establish our Kingdom as the beginnings of an Empire that will know no boundary and that will fear no enemy!”  
The room burst into such raucous applause the Thalia started and had to be caught by the gearmen. The boom of cheering and deep crash of Arkzirax throwing their thick fists together in approval was almost overpowering.  
After minutes of applause, the elder raised his hands and the room fell silent.  
“A noble ambition,” The old Arkzirax said with a dip of his chin. Thalia could see excitement reflecting in his cold black eyes. “Yet, you have no heirs. This is not ideal.”  
“No,” Xieol agreed, “But I have recently been gifted the most genetically perfect Vessel that science has ever created—a true genetic match. I promise heirs within the year.”  
A bead of sweat rolled down Thalia’s neck. She could feel eyes within the room turning to her. It took everything in her to roll her shoulders back and keep her chin up, instead of shrinking into the circle of gearmen surrounding her.  
“And you would name this Vessel your empress?” The Elders voice boomed. The room was silent.  
“For the legitimacy of my heirs, I would.” Xieol sounded resolute, but Thalia could detect the slightest hesitation. She could picture his grimace.  
“Then let her come forward.”  
Her heart fell to her slippered feet as the precession of Guards and gearmen peeled away from her. Suddenly she was right before the dais, with Xieol and the elder looking down at her. She came to a stop just to the right of Thruk’s crumpled form. His chest was still rising and falling, although very shallowly. Both of his legs were broken in multiple places and a bone was protruding from an odd turn in his arm. With a shuddered breath, Thalia looked away. Chin up. Head up.  
She repeated the mantra over and over as the Elder began chanting. In one swift movement, he plucked the circlet right off her head. A guard offered a pillow and the shriveled old Arkzirax laid her tiara upon it. It was quickly taken away and replaced with a pillow bearing a crude iron crown made of three sharp spikes protruding upwards from a thick circlet. Humming, the Elder lowered the ugly thing upon Thalia. She braced her neck against the weight of it.  
The elder quickly preformed much of the same thing on Xieol. Although Xieol’s crown boasted spikes that rose over a foot in the air. Finished, the Elder held out his hand. A guard stepped forward and knelt beside the fallen Thruk. Faster than Thalia could comprehend, the guard produced a knife. With one swift movement, he made a deep gash into the fallen man’s chest. He sunk his hand deep and, with a jerk, produced a beating heart.  
The Elder took the proffered organ and bade Xieol and Thalia turn to face the crowd. He held the heart high and with one motion, crushed the heart above their heads. Blood and gore rained down upon them as everyone assembled broke into raucous applause.  
Thalia covered her mouth and took a deep breath through her nose. Her face was cold. The beads of blood running down her cheeks were starkly hot in contrast. There was a buzzing in her ears and her fingers had gone numb. She would not loose composure. She could not. All those people were watching, she remembered. They were looking to her for strength. She almost pitied them as her stomach rolled violently. Thalia kept her gaze straight ahead as the cheering and chanting continued, all thoughts devoted to keeping her stomach in check.  
A heavy hand landed on her shoulder. Xieol half lifted her up onto the dais beside him. His hand became heavy, and he pushed her down to her knees beside him. She felt the horrendous thing on her head slide, and she caught it quickly with one hand before it could fall. Chin up. Head up. People were watching.  
Watching her get covered in gore and forced to her knees. What message could that possibly be sending them? She must look as conquered as she felt. Chin up or not. She quickly schooled her expression and tried to chase away any revulsion or anxiety. She imagined herself made of stone, resolute and immobile. Strong.  
“It is my utmost honor to present,” The Elder droned on, although some triumph had slipped into his voice. “The Mighty Emperor Xieol!”  
Then, she heard a small whirring amidst the cheering. A small robotic orb was whirring throughout the room. It was a solid white ball except for a large black circle on the front. A lens.  
“And” He added, “Her Pureness, Empress Thalia!”  
As the room erupted into chaotic cheering, Thalia looked straight into that lens and let out a triumphant smile.


	9. Falling

A rough hand crashed down onto her skull. The thick, white fingers interlaced between the three spikes of her crown. Thalia’s stomach fell away as she was thrown through the air, flipped, and landed over Xieol’s shoulder. The air rushed out of her lungs in a whoosh at the impact with his back. The room erupted in applause. Arkzirax everywhere through their mighty fists together and bellowed their approval as Xieol leapt off the dais and strode out of the room, his Empress hanging over his massive shoulder.  
Thalia only hoped the cameras had cut in time.  
Xieol said nothing as he strode though the citadel. Her head knocked into his back with each massive stride. When he took the tower stairs four at a time, she thought she would lose consciousness. Her ears popped, lights burst before her eyes.  
When he arrived at that dreaded room atop the tower, he kicked in the door before it had time to retract into the wall. Without a thought, he ripped her body from him and tossed her across the room. She flew into the wall with a gasp. Her body crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. The crown hit the ground with a thud.  
Xieol was already approaching her. His words boomed in the round room. Thalia couldn’t hear him over the blood pounding in her ears. She looked up and saw him looming over her through a haze of red. Her fingers wrapped around something cold. Xieol loomed above her and without a thought, Thalia drove the pronged metal crown up.   
Right into his stomach.  
His right hand clutched his abdomen, his left hit her in a punishing backhand that sent her flying into the wall. She looked up at him from the floor in a daze. The prongs of the crown slid out of his abdomen coated in black, oily blood. It dripped down his white skin and marred the slick floor where it fell in tiny drops.   
“I will watch them cut you open myself.” He said.   
He spun on his heel and left the room. Thalia hoped he had gone to tend to his wound. A certain excitement coursed through her veins. She had hurt him. For some reason she had held him above mortal pain in her head. But now, oh now, he could bleed. The Mighty Xieol was not invincible.   
Three gearmen filed into the room before the door shut. They stared down at Thalia, smiling where she laid on the floor. Her mind whirred along with the sounds of the gearmen.  
“Get back,” She ordered, as she drug herself up from the ground. “Stand against the wall.”  
The Gearmen fell back without protest. Once they were all pressed against the opposite wall, Thalia wrapped the long train of her gown around herself, until she was fully cocooned in the metal scales.   
“Thank you for your service.” She told the gearmen. “And tell Xeiol… Tell him no.”  
Clutching the train about herself, she took a running leap through the window. Sparks exploded as she passed through the net. Fireworks danced before her eyes for a split second. Then her stomach dropped and she fell. Cold wind stun her eyes. Tears dripped down her cheeks before they too were whipped away. Far beneath her the green grass and the crystal mirror lakes rose to meet her.   
At least she would not die Xieol’s puppet. For once in his life he would be denied. The grand plans he had announced would come to naught. The whole court, the entire known universe had heard him proclaim he would use her to achieve supreme dominance. Now they would all see his failure at her hands. Her feeble human hands would rip his dreams from him.  
Maybe she was playing right into Cruft’s plan, or Eliane’s. Maybe she had always been intended to die this way. It was better though. Better than to die at his hands. She closed her eyes and listened to the wind howl around the outside of her cocoon.   
Sooner than she expected, she collided with something, hard. Shock slowly bubbled away and she realized she was alive. Hardly even injured, aside from some new bruises. Shaking hands peeled away the train of her dress, and she gasped.  
The wind continued to howl around her as she sped sideways around the tower wall. Her window loomed above and the ground… the ground was still far below. Puzzled, she splayed her fingers against the hard surface that was preventing her fall. It was as if the air itself had hardened and was speeding her away from the tower. Already the citadel was becoming smaller on the horizon.   
Then the hard surface below her began to take form. What had once seemed nothing but air began to solidify into a silver form. It was a huge conical shape with two fins, one rising above her and one pointing downward.   
A ship. She had landed on the nose of a spaceship.  
The ship made a quick bank to the right and Thalia shrieked as she began to slide towards the edge. She scrabbled across the smooth surface and was just about to lose her grip on the craft entirely when a man appeared above her and grabbed her by the wrist. She was quickly jerked up onto the wing and through a hatch into the ship proper.  
“Get back to work!” Her rescuer yelled at the blurry forms around her. Thalia’s heart pounded in her throat. She swallowed back nausea and disbelief.   
“Show’s over!” The male voice boomed again.   
She looked up at her savior again and watched him tangle his hand into his chestnut hair in frustration. “Steer to the forest,” He commanded, and the other forms around them rushed into movement. “Get us out of here!”  
“Of course this happens the one time I decide to cut through a restricted zone!” Thalia noticed she was suddenly alone with the strange man. He turned his attention to her. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing crashing onto my ship?”  
“I’m…Thalia.”  
“And?” He demanded, unimpressed.   
“You didn’t watch the broadcast, did you?”  
“While stealth-moding through a restricted zone? Close enough to reach out and touch the main citadel?” He looked at her like she was insane, “No. I must have missed it, why?”  
After the ceremony, Xieol’s blow to her face, the electronic netting and almost falling to her death, Thalia couldn’t find anything to say. She watched blankly as the man picked up a remote control and punched in the keys. A display on the dash lit up and showed them the entire ceremony in triple-time. The man hit a button and the image froze on a close up of her smiling face.  
“Crap.” Was all he said as he grabbed her by the upper arm and began dragging her down a hall.  
“I can walk!” She ripped her arm free. To her surprise, the man allowed it.   
“Well, then, after you, Empress.” He made a grand gesture down the hall.  
“Just Thalia,” She muttered, her nerves shot. Despite his gesture, the man turned and led the way down the hall. He stopped at the last door and punched a number into a key pad. The door clicked open and he pulled her inside quickly. He shut the door behind them.  
He walked over to a messy desk covered in paper and electronic note pads alike. Unceremoniously, he dumped himself into the chair so that he could rest his chin on its back. He gestured casually to the small cot opposite him.  
Thalia began to refuse, but the stress of the past few hours won out and she slumped on the edge of the bed. Besides, she felt oddly comfortable with the man. He was larger than her, to be sure, but he did not tower over her. His skin and hair looked similar to hers, although her hair was darker and his skin was tanned.   
“You’re human?” She asked, in awe.  
“You’re perceptive.” He returned, unimpressed, “I’m Captain Alders and you are currently aboard my ship. Mind telling me why?”  
Thalia hesitated, unsure where to begin.  
“I would settle for how.” He was getting impatient.  
“My dress,” She fingered the metal plates that made up the gown. “It shielded me from the electronic net on my window. I didn’t know about your ship. I couldn’t see it.”  
“And yet, you still jumped out a window that high up? Are you insane?”  
“He was going to have them cut me open and harvest my insides! What would you have done?” She returned, suddenly furious. “How long would you have sat there and let them beat you just because you are human? Then paint you up like a doll and pretend you have any value at all, just to do it over again?”  
“Wait, wait,” He held up his hands in a gesture of peace, “Cut you open? He just declared you his Empress. He needs you for an heir… God.” He ran his hands through his thick hair again and looked down at the worn carpet.  
“He hates me,” She went on quietly, “He won’t…mate… with me. He thinks humans are revolting. So his scientists are going to harvest my eggs and fertilize them in a lab.”  
“An Arkzirax heir made in a lab?” He asked, shocked, “That goes completely against their ways—”  
“That’s exactly what the King said,” She looked away, “And Xieol killed him for it.”  
“Don’t say that!” Alders exclaimed and jumped to his feet. One hand shot up to cover her face. He looked at her for a moment, and schooled his expression. Slowly, he sat back down. “Don’t ever say that again, or you’ll most likely end up dead too.”  
“It’s true, though. I saw it.”  
“There are some truths we all know but don’t say to save our necks.” He returned.  
“I have no neck to save.” She responded. “He is going to kill me as soon as I give him an heir. If he doesn’t accidently beat me to death first.”  
“Beat you,” He repeated, “The Arkzirax treasure their Vessels above all else. They need you to survive.”  
“Not Xieol,” She said, “He hates me because everyone wants him to mate with me.”  
“Mate,” Alders screwed up his face, “It’s such an Arkzirax word for it.”  
“What would you call it?” She asked. In all her education on the quarantine ship that was the only word for the act that she had been taught.  
“Well…” He seemed suddenly uncomfortable, “There’s sex…or making love. But when you don’t want it, that’s rape. It’s considered a crime to humans.” He gave her a pitying look.  
“Call it what you want,” She ignored her burning cheeks, “But it is the only way he did not want to touch me.” She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror then. A disheveled mess of glitter and eyeliner. “Can I get this stuff off my face, please?”  
“Sure,” Alders kicked off his chair and causally punched a key code into a panel on the opposite wall. The door slid open and Thalia saw a small bathing room within. “Take your time.”  
He walked over to a cabinet against the wall and pulled a large shirt out of the top drawer. He gave it a sniff, shrugged, and tossed it to her. One of his shirts. He saw her look and gave a half smile. “I’m all out of fine gowns, unfortunately,”  
With a snort, she took the shirt and walked towards the bathroom door.  
“Wait,” He called from behind. He walked towards her and pressed the weight of a gun into her hand. She immediately recoiled and tried to give it back, but he wrapped her hands around the handle and held them there. He held her eyes as he spoke.  
“You are a runaway Empress on your Emperor’s home planet. You are also on an illegal ship full of males that haven’t seen a female in a year. If anything comes into this cabin besides me, you shoot. Okay?”  
She nodded and he let go, leaving her to grip the weapon uncertainly.   
“Good,” He straightened and headed for the main door. “I’m going to see about getting us off this damn planet.”  
With that, he was gone. Thalia gingerly carried his shirt and the gun, as if they were both weapons, to the bathroom and slid the door closed behind her. Without help, it took quite a while to get the golden dress off of her body. Eventually, she managed. The shower turned on automatically when she stepped into the small stall. She gasped as the cold, unheated water sprayed her, but grit her teeth and bared it. A few minutes of scrubbing and her makeup and body paint were swirling around the drain.  
She stepped out and pulled Captain Alder’s shirt onto her cold, still wet body. When she emerged into the main room, he was still gone. So she crept into the small cot and pulled the blanket over herself to ease her shivering. Against her will, the day took its toll and she fell asleep.  
When she woke, it was to the harsh sound of snoring. She crept to the edge of the bed and looked down. The captain was asleep on the worn rug, his arm flung under his head as a pillow. He was still fully dressed in his brown leather flight suit.  
Quietly, she rose to a seated position and gazed down at him. She had never seen a human male before. He was so like her and so different at the same time. It was fascinating. His chestnut hair was cut shaggily and rumpled. Short stubbly hairs had sprouted up on his jaw since she had last seen him. His chin was sharper than hers, more angular than round, and his nose was also more prominent than hers. Yet, it fit in with his other features. His eyes— were open.  
She fought her impulse to flinch away and instead held his gaze. There was a question in his eyes, but after a moment he shook his head. He stretched his whole body out like a cat and rose to a seated position on the rug.   
“Enjoying the view or considering murder?” He asked with a yawn.   
“You were snoring,”  
“Ah, so murder then,” He rose to his feet and gave another large stretch. As his arms lifted up, she caught a glimpse of his tanned stomach. And belly button.  
“You are so human,” She murmured.  
“One hundred percent, if you believe my mother,” He sat on the edge of the bed, careful to keep distance between them.   
It suddenly annoyed her that he was skirting around her like she was some frightened animal. It annoyed her more that she felt like one.   
“Which I do, by the way,” he added.  
“What?”  
“Believe my mother,” His voice was still cautious, trying not to frighten her,   
“You seemed concerned. It was a joke.”  
“No… that’s not it.” She shrugged, “I’m just tired of being so jumpy all the time.”  
“He really did that to you?” He asked. Now that the makeup was gone, bruises once again marred her face and arms. Some touch of disbelief in his tone struck a nerve.  
“Why?” She returned angrily, “Is he some hero of yours?”  
“God,” He scoffed, “Quite the opposite.”  
“So you’re an enemy of his?”  
“There was a reason my ship was in stealth mode.” He glanced at her sideways.  
“Why?”  
“I think that’s a question for when I know you better, Empress.”  
“My name is Thalia, Captain.” Angry, she rose to her feet. Her hands balled into fists.  
“I’m good with ‘Captain’”, He stood with a shrug and was suddenly much too close to her. “You take the bed Thalia. It’s time for my watch anyway.” He slid past her and grabbed up his boots from where they had been discarded near the door. “Keep that near you,” He nodded towards the gun on the bedside table.  
“Where are we going?” She asked, glancing around the windowless cabin.  
He hesitated, then said, “Somewhere safe.”  
“You need to re-watch that broadcast, then,” She said bitterly, “Nowhere is safe.”  
His eyes softened. “You are safe here, Thalia.”  
“Then why do I need a gun?”  
“Well…safer,” He amended and nodded to the bed, “Get some sleep. The ship travels faster at night. We’ll be there tomorrow. You’ll see.”  
“See what?”   
“Well, more humans, for one.” With that intriguing thought, he was gone.


End file.
